


Lose, Lose

by kingdra (aroceu)



Series: fun and games [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 69 (Sex Position), Alcohol, Asphyxiation, Crossdressing, First Time, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Rimming, Slow Burn, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 05:46:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2840222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroceu/pseuds/kingdra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If someone had told Tetsurou last year that he would fall in love with Oikawa Tooru in his first year of university, he wouldn't have believed it.</p><p>or, Kuroo annoys his way into Oikawa's tiny personal bubble, and eventually into his heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lose, Lose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vellaude](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vellaude/gifts).



When Tetsurou catches a glance of him for the first time, he almost does a double take. Coming from around the Tokyo area, he doesn't really know any of the old volleyball players from high schools closer to Miyagi. Now that he's in university, he doesn't quite expect more or less—but he's never seen the legendary Oikawa Tooru in person before.

"Hey—hey!" Tetsurou slips through the crowd. Oikawa doesn't really notice him until, in an awkward stumble, Tetsurou manages to run his shoulder into his.

Tetsurou asks, "Oikawa Tooru, right?" as he falls into step with him.

Oikawa positively glowers. "Who the hell are you?"

Ah, he's just like how the Karasuno kids had described.

"Kuroo Tetsurou, nice to meet you."

Tetsurou does his best to present his most charming smile. Oikawa, who still looks wary, asks, "How do you know me?" Like he doesn't know he has a reputation outside of just his prefecture.

Tetsurou hitches his messenger bag over his shoulder. "Some friends from high school mentioned you before," he says casually. "Volleyball captain of Aoba Jousai, right?"

Perhaps he's being a little too forward, because Oikawa noticeably flinches at the name. "Why?"

"I was captain of the Nekoma team. My high school's pretty close to here," Tetsurou says, gesturing vaguely. "Tokyo," he adds, like Oikawa doesn't know where they are.

"Right," says Oikawa. "Well I have to get going, so I'll. Bye."

He scurries off without a second glance at Tetsurou. In all honesty, it's ruder than he would've expected.

Tetsurou grins.

▽▽▽

He doesn't frequent the bar scene often, despite what Kenma's been telling the first and second years every time he goes back to visit. Sometimes it's too loud, or he's not quite in the mood; but exam season is over and he definitely needs a break, and a reward for himself.

Tetsurou stays close to the bar, sipping nonchalantly and people watching. The door jingles. University students bustle in and out, mostly in groups. Tetsurou's made a few friends here, but most of them are still studying for the coming exams. There are a few clusters of adults, too, eyeing the students even though the bar is right next to campus.

The door jingles again. Tetsurou turns back to his drink; he's downed half, feels fine. Someone sits next to him. Tetsurou tosses the rest of his drink in his mouth.

"One glass, please."

Tetsurou nearly chokes. Next to him is Oikawa—fate, some might call it. He does his best to swallow, cheeks bulging then stilling. Then he asks, "Exams over for you, too?"

Oikawa's face passes from shock to disgust. Tetsurou pushes back a snicker. He definitely looks like he wants to find somewhere else to sit, but the bar's so crowded that it would be difficult to find any room.

"Yeah," he says finally, tone resigned.

Tetsurou asks, "What made you want to choose Tokyo?" Oikawa drinks, and Tetsurou watches from the side. "Don't tell me it was the volleyball faction."

"It wasn't."

"Something about your tone says  _otherwise_ ," Tetsurou teases. "I bet you heard how good we were."

Oikawa laughs. He says, "More like I haven't heard anything about you at all."

"Oh? Not even from our mutual friends at Karasuno?"

Oikawa meets Tetsurou's eyes. He's still smiling, but there's something dangerous about them. It makes Tetsurou's insides drop into a ball of heat. He grins back.

"Not a thing," says Oikawa, and takes another drink.

▽▽▽

It doesn't take long for Tetsurou to realize that if he had just looked a little harder, he could've spotted Oikawa earlier in his every day life. Upon boarding the train, he notices Oikawa nearby, sitting and tapping away on his tablet. Tetsurou grabs the pole next to him and slides over.

"I swear I'm not following you," he says, when he accidentally knocks into Oikawa's knee with his own.

Oikawa looks up. "I'm questioning that."

"You could question me." Tetsurou adjust so he's not in a position where he might fall over and land in Oikawa's lap, however much Oikawa deserves it.

"I'd rather read between the lines."

The train stops and the person sitting next to him leaves. Oikawa glances at it. It's hard to tell whether he's thinking about offering it to Tetsurou, or about spreading his legs across the seats so Tetsurou doesn't take it. Tetsurou smoothly plops his ass down as quick as he can, anyway.

"Where are you headed?" he asks. "Class?"

Oikawa nods. He continues typing away on his tablet. Tetsurou peers over his shoulder.

"Don't."

Oikawa shoves his shoulder in Tetsurou's face, but it's only fair. Tetsurou whines and backs off. Oikawa says, "Haven't you heard of manners?"

"You wouldn't have done that if you weren't talking about me," Tetsurou says. "Or watching porn."

Oikawa doesn't respond.

"Unless you're the type to share his porn," says Tetsurou.

"Literally," says Oikawa, " _who are you_?"

"Just a guy who's trying to make it to his next class, too, in all honesty."

"You said you played volleyball," Oikawa says suddenly, looking him dead in the eye. It's a surprise, but Tetsurou doesn't back away. "What position did you play?"

"Middle blocker," Tetsurou replies. His suspicious tone is justified. Probably.

Oikawa says, "Ah. So you're that type."

"If by 'that type' you mean tall, then yeah, probably," says Tetsurou. "What's it to you, ace setter?"

Oikawa scowls. That, along with his dangerous smile, is probably one of the most attractive expressions on his face.

"What does it mean if you've heard of me but I  haven't heard of you before?" he says.

Tetsurou's answer comes as quick as a heartbeat.

"That you have a lot more to learn about me," he says.

▽▽▽

"Whose fault is it this time?" Tetsurou is gleeful. Behind the counter, Oikawa is glaring, although it's hard to tell if it's because of Tetsurou or the fact that he looks like he hasn't slept in three days.

He's not going to kid himself. Tetsurou knows it's because of him. It's almost cliché, because a year ago Tetsurou wouldn't have imagined himself working in a coffee shop. He wouldn't say that seeing a mildly disgruntled Oikawa brightens up his day, but if any of his coworkers thinks he might seem happier afterwards, well, it wouldn't be a figment of their imagination.

"I would not," Oikawa seethes, "have sought out this place specifically if I knew you worked here."

"Don't try to deny that you're resistant to my charms." But Tetsurou knows he's all talk and no bite. Mostly. "What can I get for you?"

Oikawa rattles off his food order and Tetsurou puts it in the system. "Lunch?" he says, despite what Oikawa had ordered.

Oikawa shakes his head. "Breakfast."

"A little late for that, don't you think?"

Tetsurou prints out the customer receipt and hands it to him. "Your order will be out soon," he chirps, and Oikawa rolls his eyes.

Tetsurou watches as Oikawa waits, almost shivering, thanks the server when his food gets brought out, and pores over a notebook while he eats breakfast. Signs of exam cramming, Tetsurou knows. He should offer to help Oikawa study—even with having stacked his classes during his first semester, Tetsurou has plenty of time to not think about schoolwork too much—but that might not help. Since it's him.

Oikawa leaves at noon on the dot. Tetsurou is tempted to send him an air kiss to wish him luck.

▽▽▽

And, as it turns out, even though Oikawa had claimed he didn't come to Tokyo for the volleyball, Tetsurou sees him at one of the practices anyway. He's in the bleachers, watching with his arms crossed. Tetsurou doesn't make it obvious that he's noticed him, but during the break he slips out through the locker room and joins him.

"What'd you think?" he asks.

Oikawa doesn't flinch this time, almost like he'd expected Tetsurou to find him. "There's a reason I didn't come to Tokyo for the university volleyball teams," he says. "They're not very good."

Tetsurou shrugs. He's not wrong - most of the players are in it for fun, not for competition. Tetsurou is, too.

"Why aren't you on the team?" he asks.

Oikawa blinks. "Didn't you hear what I just said? They're not very good."

"That's alright. What about me, what'd you think of me?"

Tetsurou smiles. After a second, Oikawa says, "I don't know what to say. You haven't really been doing much other than talking to your teammates."

"That's what I do." Tetsurou gives him an a-ok. "You don't have to be on a team that you think is good, you know."

"I know," says Oikawa, but he glances away.

Tetsurou asks, "What are you doing here at the practice? You knew I'd be on the team, didn't you?" He nudges Oikawa, grins. "It's been you twice in a row now. Maybe I'm not as annoying as I thought."

Oikawa grumbles something incoherent, but Tetsurou doesn't worry about it. The coach blows the whistle, and Tetsurou stands up. He says, grinning still, "I'll see you sometime soon, probably."

Oikawa doesn't say anything, but he stays for the whole practice, and disappears right afterwards. It's good enough.

▽▽▽

On one of the last days before the first semester break, Tetsurou manages to miss the bus going back to his apartment. He would be fine with walking if it weren't raining. He ducks into the bus waiting station and sits down on the bench. Most of his hair is wet from running out of his last class's building, flopping unattractively all over his face. He styles it back into a slightly more acceptable shape.

Outside of the waiting station, a familiar figure walks up, swears loudly, and turns on his heel. Tetsurou calls out, "Oikawa-kun?"

Oikawa swivels over to look at him. Tetsurou does his best to look approachable.

"Of all other people," Oikawa says, joining him under the roof, "to miss the bus with—"

"Aren't you glad it's me?"

Oikawa sits down, cross his legs at the ankle. "I suppose it could be worse," he says.

Tetsurou says, "So how's your day been? What are you doing for break? How did your exam go the other day, by the way?"

"Which one?" Oikawa laughs hollowly. He checks his phone. It would be in everyone's best interests if Tetsurou refrained from the hug he's tempted to give.

"The one where you were studying for when you saw me at work," he says.

"All-nighter and last minute studying and I'm still pretty sure I bombed it," says Oikawa.

His tone makes Tetsurou cringe, mostly because there's an element to his words that Tetsurou doesn't believe and Oikawa does. He says, "You did okay, I'm pretty sure," even though he doesn't know what the exam had been about and hasn't seen Oikawa's work ethic firsthand. But if what he's heard about his volleyball habits were true, and assumedly applied to academia, he'll probably blow everyone else out of the water.

"I have time to study more when I stay over break," Oikawa continues, leaning back on the bench. "What about you? Are you going back?"

Tetsurou nods. "Can't leave my high-schooler best friend in the dust all the time, you know."

Oikawa raises an eyebrow. "Your best friend is in high school?'

"Don't look at me like that," but Tetsurou feels fonder when he thinks of Kenma, smiles. "He's a third year. I doubt he misses me, anyway. I told him I felt bad for ditching him, and he said that there was no way he would let me be a hobo in his room if it meant coming to university without him."

Oikawa smiles. For the first time, it looks sincere rather than some sort of underhanded mocking. Tetsurou won't say it out loud, but this is definitely better.

"You're doing better than me," he says. "I didn't tell Iwa-chan until last minute that I was coming to Tokyo and he said he was glad that he didn't have to worry about what I was planning on doing with my life."

"Better late than never." Tetsurou knocks his knee into Oikawa's, but Oikawa doesn't react to it. "But if you're far away, that means you have something in mind, doesn't it?"

Oikawa doesn't say anything.

▽▽▽

Tetsurou doesn't bother giving a warning when he bursts into Kenma's room, brown paper bag tucked under his arm. "Kenma! Have you gotten taller?"

"You're not funny." Predictably, Kenma is on his phone, and throws a stuffed animal at Tetsurou when he comes in. Tetsurou catches it and looks at the stuffed cat fondly.

"I am, for your information,  _hilarious_ ," he says, and collapses on Kenma's bed with him. "I have a present for you, too. Open it!"

Kenma sets his phone aside and, warily, takes the brown bag from Tetsurou. He opens it up and takes his present out.

"... another phone charm."

"You're going to use one of them someday!" Tetsurou says. The one he got for Kenma this time has an obscene phrase about his legs and hips. "Do you know how high end these phone charms are?"

"As high end as you," Kenma mutters, returning to his phone.

Tetsurou ignores the shade. "That's right," he says, proudly.

He rolls over onto Kenma, who's used to it that he doesn't complain anymore. Upside down, Tetsurou can read whom Kenma is texting to. "Did you tell our Karasuno friends that their Seijou rival-captain goes to my school?"

"I don't think they'll care," Kenma says.

Tetsurou watches him type out the announcement to Shouyou, anyway.

"He's more obnoxious than me," Tetsurou reports.

Kenma says, "I don't believe that."

"Not in the way that I am." He rolls back so that they're side to side. "He's not going back for break because he's busy studying."

"He doesn't sound anything like you."

"Is that a compliment or insult?" says Tetsurou, even though he knows the answer. When Kenma doesn't say anything, he bops him on the head with a pillow. "I kick ass at school so I have that going for me, okay?"

"You do," Kenma agrees, and he doesn't sound particularly proud or disappointed.

His phone dings. Kenma reads the message, and then shows it to Tetsurou.

**_From: Hinata Shouyou_ **  
_oh my, that's certainly... something >////< tell kuroo-san i said good luck!_

"I don't need luck," says Tetsurou.

▽▽▽

After break, Tetsurou makes sure to look over his academic schedule, to make sure he's not missing anything. He reads a few chapters for his next few classes, and then decides to give himself a break and go out.

He goes to the bar he'd gone to before: perhaps a part of him hopes that he'd see Oikawa again. As it turns out, he doesn't need to worry about that, because as soon as he walks in, a very loud voice says, "Kuroo-kun!" and then Oikawa's practically in his arms, reeking of beer. He's very drunk.

Tetsurou laughs and helps him stand back up. "This is the happiest you've ever been around me," he says. "Also, three for three now? Unless we're counting the bus stop, then three for four. Although I don't know if that would be you or me."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Someone comes up to Oikawa, asks him for a drink. To Tetsurou's surprise, Oikawa agrees, pays for the wine of a complete stranger.

Tetsurou asks, "Are you rich?"

"Hard to say," says Oikawa, so Tetsurou takes that as a yes.

"What's the occasion?"

Tetsurou finds a spare seat so they're not lingering in the doorway. People keep grinning and greeting Oikawa and he's grinning back. A lot had changed while Tetsurou was gone over break, apparently.

"I've been studying for the past three weeks! I need some time to wind down," says Oikawa. His eyes are alight and he keeps swaying. Tetsurou firmly forces him into the chair next to him.

"You've wound down a bit too much, I think," he says, but jostles him so Oikawa knows he's teasing.

"I am excellent," Oikawa's words are slightly slurred, "at taking care of myself."

"I'll trust you on that," Tetsurou says.

"You know." Oikawa almost falls over his chair. Tetsurou grabs onto his arm so he doesn't. "You  _are_  kind of annoying."

Tetsurou lets him go.

Oikawa manages to straighten himself up, doesn't even seem to realize what Tetsurou did. "But I am too, so I don't mind," he says. "Plus, it doesn't stop you from not being bad to look at."

It takes a second for Tetsurou to make sense of his words. "That makes a surprising amount of sense when you're drunk."

Oikawa giggles. "I am a sensible drunk," he says.

"I wouldn't put it past you," says Tetsurou. "So. Huh. You swing that way, don't you?"

"I don't play baseball."

Tetsurou probably needs to be equally if not more drunk to deal with this drunk Oikawa. He manages to get Oikawa to pay for a few of his drinks before he feels bad about it, and they shout and sing and then the bartender kicks them out. At this rate, Oikawa is half-passed out so Tetsurou decides to lug them back to his place, which luckily isn't too far. Oikawa's still singing under his breath. Tetsurou would care more about the funny looks they get if he were sober, but halfway through his trek back and he realizes he's quietly singing along.

After dropping Oikawa onto his couch, Tetsurou rummages through Oikawa's fallen jacket before he finds his phone. He adds himself to Oikawa's contact list ("Flip phone," he mutters to himself), and then texts himself,  _it's the other asshole, asshole_. He climbs into bed and puts Oikawa as the tongue emoji in his address book, right before he falls asleep.

▽▽▽

When he wakes up, Oikawa's gone from the couch. Tetsurou rubs his eyes and looks around. Oikawa's jacket is gone, too. He must've left sometime early.

He shucks off his jeans from last night and makes himself breakfast. About an hour later, his phone buzzes, from the tongue emoji.

Tetsurou snickers.

_who is this? I don't remember sending that text..._

He leans against his kitchen counter and types out a quick reply.

_guess ;)_

_care to explain your name in my phone?_

Tetsurou doesn't usually think he's that obvious, but Oikawa probably doesn't run into a lot of people like him on a regular basis.

_you said it to me last night._

_in what situation would I tell you I don't play baseball? why do I need to know that you don't play baseball, either?_

Imagining Oikawa typing this in all seriousness has Tetsurou doubled over in laughter. He takes a few minutes before he thinks up a reply.

_it doesn't matter, all you need to know is that it's true :^) what are you up to on this fine monday morning?_

_i missed my first class today_

_ah :^( i'm sorry, maybe i should've set an alarm. i don't have any classes today._

_you're lucky_

Tetsurou remembers what Shouyou had said to him earlier, smiles to himself.

_not particularly :)_

Oikawa doesn't send any more texts after that.

▽▽▽

_big dinner or don't skip lunch?_

_Don't skip lunch! it's not good for you_

The door to the coffee shop jingles. Tetsurou looks up to see that Oikawa's walking in, pocketing his phone. "You told me that because you knew I'd come here to eat, didn't you?" he says.

"Honestly, I didn't, but I'm flattered you think I'd think that way." Tetsurou places his phone on top of the cash register. "You don't have to eat lunch here, you know."

"Eat lunch where I can maybe take advantage of some sort of discount, or...?" When Oikawa looks at Tetsurou again, he smirks. He has an elbow propped against the counter, and goes back to staring up at the food menu.

Tetsurou says, "I'll have you know that I have agreed to no such thing."

"That's why I said maybe. I was suggesting. It was a suggestion."

Oikawa decides what he wants, and gives Tetsurou his order. As he puts it into the system, Tetsurou says, "You're right, you're as annoying as I am."

Oikawa frowns.

Tetsurou gives him the receipt. Oikawa reads it, then lifts his head back up.

"You know," he says, "I don't think either of us are particularly annoying." And then, a beat later, "Thanks."

"No problem," Tetsurou salutes him. "I was the one who told you to eat now anyway. And you can add a bonus to my tip." He winks.

Oikawa says, "We'll see about that," but he's smiling.

▽▽▽

It's the same hour it had been when Tetsurou had missed the bus before break, but this time it's not raining and even though he's missed the bus again, he can enjoy a sunny walk back. He puts his hands behind his head and thinks about what to make for dinner (if he should make it) and how he should avoid telling Kenma he's wasting his money (if Kenma were here at university with him, he would definitely be more in favor of being lazy and not making food, too.)

He slows his pace by the regular if he's not in a rush. There are people waiting at the bus stop, but it won't come for another twenty minutes. By that time, Tetsurou will probably be home already. Or at least halfway.

The crowd jostles him along and Tetsurou watches, adjusting his earphones every few minutes so they don't fall out. It's only when he spots a familiar ruffled brown head that he takes one out, and practically hollers in the middle of the bustling Tokyo street:

"Hey, Setter-kun!"

Oikawa jerks his head back. Several other people turn to give Tetsurou funny looks. "I didn't know there were this many people who played volleyball." He's grinning to himself when Oikawa makes his way over to him, looking humiliated.

"Glad you were one of the ones to respond to it, though," says Tetsurou. "What's new?"

"I'm— _not_ —"

Oikawa seems to be having a difficult way with words. A second later he says, "I don't play volleyball anymore so you don't have to call me 'Setter-kun.'" He looks away.

Tetsurou figures they're at a point where, if he pats Oikawa's cheek, it's not as obnoxious as it would've been several weeks ago. "Alright, I'll stick to Oikawa-kun," he says. "Anything new?"

"Just coming back from class, so not particularly." Oikawa shuffles around and rearranges a few things in his bag.

"Are you doing better this semester? Also, what's with—" Tetsurou gestures towards Oikawa's face, where noticeable bags are peeking out from under his eyes. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

Oikawa bats his hand away. "Enough," he replies. "And yes, I'm doing better this semester. Thanks for asking."

But his tone sounds tired like maybe he needs a drink. Or two.

"Wanna come by mine this weekend?" Tetsurou asks. "I know it's only the beginning of the week, but it'll give you something to look forward to."

Oikawa stares. But then his mouth does the thing where he's smiling and doesn't look like he's laughing at Tetsurou again, rare that Tetsurou takes it as a good sign.

"Alright," he agrees.

▽▽▽

"I didn't expect to see you so soon."

Tetsurou lifts his head up. Oikawa, as usual, is bundled up like he's in weather ten degrees colder than it is, but he also looks genuinely cheerful at seeing Tetsurou sitting in the booth, about to start on his lunch.

Tetsurou kicks his things on the seat opposite him almost immediately. Oikawa laughs.

"I'll be back after I order," he says, and Tetsurou returns to his sandwich.

Several minutes later Oikawa joins him, grins again at Tetsurou's things on the ground. After a brief moment of deliberation he brings them back next to him.

"You know," says Tetsurou, "I'm surprised we haven't had an official meal together until today."

"None of those encounters at the bar count?"

"Of course not." Tetsurou rolls his eyes and takes a drink. "We have to do this properly. We start with me annoying you, and then a few months later now we're here, getting a meal together. It's all according to plan."

"Right," says Oikawa, but he keeps his gaze on Tetsurou's, instead of looking away.

"On another note," Tetsurou gestures to Oikawa's winter jacket and scarf, even though it's only October. "What's with this?"

"I figure since I'm coming to yours over the weekend, I can keep binging on not sleeping." Oikawa begins taking off his things, to reveal a sweater underneath. It's about twenty-five degrees and Tetsurou is ready to kick his ass, for more reasons than one.

He puts his food down and his hand up. "Alright, first of all, what the fuck kind of idea is that?"

"A great one."

"Second," continues Tetsurou, ignoring him, "what does dressing like this have anything to do with your insomnia?"

"I get cold when I don't get enough sleep." Oikawa pouts.

" _Then get enough sleep!_ "

A waitress comes over and sets Oikawa's food down. He smiles prettily, and she blushes.

"Thank you for the food," he says, and she leaves, positively beaming.

Oikawa turns back to Tetsurou. "See? It doesn't hinder anything important."

Tetsurou takes an ice cube from his own drink and throws it at him.

▽▽▽

When Oikawa comes for the weekend, Tetsurou has a plan to get them completely drunk and watch old soap operas and pass out after midnight.

What happens is: Oikawa stumbles in, eats the take-out Tetsurou had gotten for dinner in a half-assed manner, and falls asleep on the couch when Tetsurou is in the middle of picking out a movie and turning to him for his opinion.

Tetsurou sighs but figures he's shouldn't be too surprised. He drags a blanket from his room and covers Oikawa, and then spends the rest of his night in his room, on various social media, plus texting Kenma about how Oikawa's on his couch, and evading Kenma's accusations of his being the cause of it.

In the morning, he's still asleep, even after Tetsurou wakes up at eleven. Tetsurou yawns and calls the closest and fastest restaurant he knows for brunch takeout. He sits next to Oikawa on the couch, but feels like it might be out of place if he shook him awake. Oikawa deserves the sleep, anyway. Probably.

He doesn't wake up until the early afternoon, groggy but without the bags under his eyes. "What time is it?" he asks.

Tetsurou is in the kitchen, rearranging the food he'd poured out onto Oikawa's plate, with his chopsticks. He might've stolen some, too.

"One forty-nine!" he calls.

"In the afternoon?"

Oikawa's voice is haggard. He rolls off the couch and stumbles into the kitchen. He blinks when he notices the food.

"Is that for me?"

"Nope, it's all for me."

Oikawa picks up a small foam cat from the counter—a trinket from high school—and lobs it at Tetsurou. "Asshole," he says, without any malice, and takes the dish while Tetsurou's still recovering. He takes the chopsticks out of Tetsurou's hands, too.

"You know, I was using those before," Tetsurou says, as he joins him in the living room.

Oikawa shrugs and continues eating.

Tetsurou hums.

"When's your birthday?" he asks curiously.

Oikawa chews and swallows. "It was in July," he says.

"What? You mean I missed it?"

Oikawa shrugs, and continues eating. "It doesn't really matter."

"Oh, Oikawa-kun!" Tetsurou nudges his arm from across the table. Oikawa looks up from his food and raises an eyebrow. "But we'd known each other by then!"

"Not well enough."

Tetsurou huffs. "Well," he says. "If you think we know each other well enough  _now_ , my birthday is next month. So."

"I'll keep that in mind," says Oikawa, but he smiles behind his chopsticks. Tetsurou decides that he won't mind so terribly if Oikawa ends up forgetting.

▽▽▽

_do you want to come to mine tonight?_

Tetsurou gets the text next Thursday evening, bubble tea straw in his mouth and busy playing a game on a handheld that Kenma gotten him last winter. He'd finished dinner only moments before but doesn't feel like getting up to put his dishes away. When he takes out his phone after it buzzes and sees the message from tongue.emoji, he raises his eyebrows. He slurps up a tapioca pearl.

_are we celebrating or something?_

_Nah, i could probably just use the company, if you dont mind_

Of course Tetsurou doesn't mind. He grabs his dishes and makes his way toward the sink, all the while typing out a reply.

_you know how much i like hanging out with you ;)) sure!_

Oikawa sends him his address and Tetsurou puts it in his phone's GPS. He makes sure to grab his jacket and make sure the keys inside, so he doesn't get locked out like he did way earlier in the school year (and texted Kenma the whole time, who rudely responded with laughing emojis.) On his way out he also takes his bubble tea, and sips it along the way.

The bubble tea is mostly done when he gets to Oikawa's. Oikawa lives several blocks away, but not far enough that Tetsurou needs to take the train. He enters the apartment key code that Oikawa had given him, and lets himself up. At Oikawa's apartment, he knocks on the door.

"It's your booty call."

Oikawa pokes his head out and looks Tetsurou up and down. "My booty call is not as attractive as I thought he would be," he says drily.

"Ha. Ha." Tetsurou pushes his cup against Oikawa's chest and welcomes himself inside.

Oikawa bends his face down and takes a drink out of Tetsurou's straw. Tetsurou yelps and yanks it away, causing Oikawa to spit all over the both of them.

"Hey!—ew." Tetsurou crinkles his nose as he wipes his hand against his shirt.

"That wouldn't have happened if you let me finish," says Oikawa, wiping his mouth.

Tetsurou frowns at him and drinks up the rest of his bubble tea, tapioca pearls and all. "You're such a brat."

"You say as you look at me like that." Oikawa leads them into the sitting room. His place is scarily tidy, but Tetsurou imagines that Oikawa would either be the type to have everything absolutely spotless, or everywhere. It must show on his face, too, because Oikawa adds, "You don't want to see the inside of my bedroom."

"I don't know if you want to jump to conclusions like that." Tetsurou slouches down to sit and watches as Oikawa returns to the dent in the leather couch that he must've been in before. He has textbooks and notebooks sprawled across the table. "You're studying."

"Yeah." Oikawa rubs the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

Tetsurou peers at some of his texts. "Medicine?" he says. "I didn't pin you to be that type."

"I got enough injuries with volleyball during middle and high school to get interested," says Oikawa.

"That explains why you're so stressed most of the time."

Tetsurou takes out his handheld, keeps the volume on silent as Oikawa continues studying. From the corner of his eye Tetsurou can see how his eyes have darkened into focus, like he's shutting the rest of the world out from his textbook and notes. Most of Tetsurou's other friends are nothing like this; but at the same time, none of them are med students, either. It's terrifyingly fascinating, that Tetsurou wouldn't risk the chances of trying to interrupt Oikawa while he's studying in case he literally got his head bitten off.

He concentrates partially on his handheld, mostly on Oikawa, who shifts his notes around, arranges and rearranges and drinks in as much of the texts as he can. The next time Tetsurou looks at the clock, an hour and a half has passed.

He wordlessly goes into Oikawa's kitchen and pours two glasses of water. Oikawa doesn't seem to be bothered that Tetsurou's parading around, though Tetsurou's sure he shouldn't test that by trying to go into Oikawa's bedroom. He comes back, slides a glass next to Oikawa, and Oikawa takes a sip without moving his gaze. Tetsurou returns to his game.

About maybe an hour later, Oikawa lifts his head up, features lightening. "I'm taking a break," he states, and Tetsurou puts his handheld down.

"That's probably a good idea," he says.

He follows Oikawa as Oikawa goes to refill his glass. "Food?" Oikawa offers, but Tetsurou shakes his head. Oikawa opens his fridge and pulls out a container. So he makes his own food, Tetsurou observes as Oikawa picks at some clumps of bread with his fingers and tosses it into his mouth.

"Thanks for coming here," Oikawa says, putting his food away.

"It's no problem. What better to do on a week night?"

Oikawa glances at him, but Tetsurou smiles. "Although," he adds, "you can make it up to me if you have any alcohol around."

"I do."

Oikawa takes out a bottle of wine from one of his top cupboards. Tetsurou's eyes light up. After a moment of deliberation, Oikawa says, "Fuck it, I'll join you," and finishes the rest of his water, too.

Tetsurou watches him, trying his best not to laugh. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asks, as Oikawa begins pouring wine into his glass.

Oikawa nods. "I think this is an excellent idea," he says, and Tetsurou does actually laugh then, big and blown out. Oikawa glances at him, and he's grinning, and distinctly Tetsurou feels like this is the best place they've been in together.

He lets Tetsurou pour a glass himself and then they clink glasses, Tetsurou's expression still dubious as he watches Oikawa with his drink.

Oikawa says, "Don't give me that look, I'm studying for an exam that's three weeks from now," before he downs his wine.

▽▽▽

Tetsurou doubts either of them is any more lightweight than the other, but Oikawa's had four glasses already and he's had two and Oikawa's only a little bit more gone than he is.

"Kuroo..." Oikawa murmurs. It startles Tetsurou that he doesn't use an honorific, and he turns to him. They're leaning against Oikawa's couch. Oikawa had spilt some wine earlier, and said he'd clean it later. Tetsurou had when Oikawa wasn't looking.

"You're so sleepy," Tetsurou says, pats Oikawa's head. His eyes are half-closed, but he turns to Tetsurou when he touches him.

A hand on his arm. Tetsurou pauses. Oikawa looks at him. His eyes are dark, but not in the way that he'd been studying earlier.

"You're," Oikawa hiccups, "definitely the only friend I've been able to make in a while." He smiles to himself, parts his lips again like he might say more. Perhaps he has an ounce of sobriety left because he seems to decide against it, closes his mouth again.

"That's sweet," says Tetsurou, and his mind is buzzing. Oikawa's profile is bright in the light of his living room. He smiles too.

At some point they doze off together, and Tetsurou wakes up sometime later to the sound of Oikawa snoring softly next to him. Tetsurou repositions himself so that his head is in Oikawa's lap and falls back asleep.

▽▽▽

There's a university festival the following week, not exactly ideal as Oikawa's exam approaches. Still, Tetsurou decides he'll take his chances by asking at the end of his last class of the day, if Oikawa wants to go with him. He waits patiently as he takes the bus home.

He doesn't get a response until he's debating on what to get for dinner, Kenma's text of  _wtf do you mean by hot date_  waiting at his phone. Oikawa's text bumps his down.

_Yeah, sounds like a good idea. what time?_

Tetsurou taps out a plan to skip dinner and instead eat during the festival, and Oikawa agrees. He hums as he picks his outfit, and meets Oikawa about a half an hour later right outside of the festivities. He smirks when he sees that Oikawa seems to have dressed up particularly well for the occasion, too.

"I told Kenma that I have a hot date tonight," Tetsurou tells him.

"You've got half of that right." Oikawa winks. "Maybe a few more times meeting like this and it might be a date."

Tetsurou can't tell if he's being serious or not, and doesn't bother wanting to find out. They walk together, Tetsurou's hands stuffed inside his pockets, deciding this was a better plan than anticipated.

( _i mean Hot Date hot date, what else would I mean?_

 _Don't tell me you found someone whos interested in you._ )

They walk around; here and there some of Tetsurou's neighbors, classmates, and friends he's made on the side greet him as they pass by. Tetsurou says hello back. Oikawa fixes him with a look he can't quite read.

"Look who's the popular one around here," he comments, and Tetsurou shoves him good-naturedly.

When they decide to try their hand at some of the game booths, they find one of the games where the goal is to knock all the beer cans over. Oikawa says, "I have this one in the bag," and pays booth vendor. He aims the proffered game ball, and Tetsurou sees it again: that scary aura of concentration that comes across Oikawa's face. For some reason, Tetsurou can't bring himself to look away.

Oikawa tosses the plastic ball, not like a volleyball, but still reminiscent of setting that Tetsurou knows would kick Kenma's ass any day. The vendor rewards Oikawa with a giant stuffed animal, and Tetsurou says, "I'll never know why you quit volleyball." Oikawa smiles at this comment, but neither of them push the subject any further.

A gaggle of girls applaud as soon as they make their way from out of the booth. One of them goes, "That was amazing!"

Another exclaims, "You're so cool!"

"Do you go to school around here?"

"I feel like I've seen you on tv before..."

They continue rattling off compliments to Oikawa, who merely smiles. "You girls can have this," he says, handing them the stuffed animal. "And thank you." He starts walking away, and Tetsurou follows him.

"Who's the popular one now?" he teases.

Oikawa shrugs. "I'm used to it," he says, and Tetsurou goes, "Oho, really?"

"Really."

They stare at each other—and then it's hard to know who caves first, because they both burst into fits of snorts and giggles. Tetsurou spots the food vendors, and an idea comes to him.

"Do you want to bring food on the Ferris wheel and see how many people we can drop it on?" he suggests.

"That," says Oikawa, holding a stitch in his side and undoubtedly loving it, "sounds like an excellent idea."

▽▽▽

Tetsurou wakes up to a faint pounding at his door, to which he responds, "Nobody's home!" and shoves his head underneath his pillow. A minute later he might hear someone say, "aha!" outside, then the sound of a key being twisted in a lock, and the door opening.

Tetsurou decides that if someone is about to steal from or murder him, he'll let them so as long as they don't bother him sleeping in peace.

The result is worse than this: Oikawa bursts into his room with abandon, and declares, "Happy birthday!" He actually has a noisemaker, blaring it loudly.

Tetsurou buries himself deeper in his blankets.

"I can't believe you remembered," he says, but Oikawa can't hear him beneath all the covers.

"Spare key under your doormat? Really? Anyone could come in, you know." Oikawa sits himself on Tetsurou's bed. If Tetsurou was a little less unconscious, he'd force Oikawa out right away; but his desire to sleep is preceding everything else. "C'mon, Kuroo-kun. It's noon. What were you doing last night?"

In truthfulness, Tetsurou was playing MMORPGs with his friends halfway across the world, but he was never going to tell Kenma that, so he wasn't going to tell Oikawa, who's second on the list, either. "Nothing," he mutters. "Let me sleep."

"You're not spending your birthday sleeping!"

Oikawa forcibly gets him out of bed, and cackles at Tetsurou's animal print boxers. He follows as Tetsurou stretches and yawns and walks into the kitchen, reluctantly starting on the tea, then pouring himself a glass of water.

"I can't believe you got me out of bed," Tetsurou says.

Oikawa grins. Tetsurou's gotten used to his scheming ones that they're not any less attractive than his rarer, more genuine ones now. "It's a talent," he says. "So, care to explain the very out of place doormat and key?"

Tetsurou waves his hand. He takes a sip of his water. "I may have," he confesses, "accidentally locked myself out in the beginning of the school year. So I ordered a second key and bought a doormat in case that happened again."

Oikawa barks in laughter. "I wish I'd been around to see that," he says.

"Kenma was laughing at me, too," Tetsurou says. Unhelpfully, Kenma had been texting Shouyou the whole time about it, too. Tetsurou knows because he'd gotten one of Kenma's texts meant for Shouyou on accident.

"So," he says, setting his water down. "You woke me up for my birthday. Does that mean you have something planned for it?"

"If by something planned you mean it'll involve a lot of drinking, shopping, and more drinking, then yes," Oikawa replies. He's playing with a tissue he'd grabbed, tearing it into tiny geometrical shapes Tetsurou wouldn't put past him using as makeshift confetti.

Tetsurou says, "I'm looking forward to it."

▽▽▽

Oikawa doesn't ask if he has any classes so Tetsurou doesn't need to be urged out of skipping, probably better for the both of them. Oikawa follows through with what he had suggested: they day drink at their usual bar, and then, slightly tipsy, walk around the city, intruding into whatever shop catches either of their fancy. Oikawa does want to stay longer at a designer handbag store and Tetsurou has to force him out.

"It's my birthday," he groans, and then resorts to breathing onto Oikawa's face while Oikawa pulls back and laughs.

"Gross," he says. "You didn't brush your teeth this morning."

"No thanks to you," says Tetsurou.

Then evening falls and Oikawa brings them to a nightclub. Tetsurou at first thinks Oikawa's been here before, but when they've entered between the bar and the dance floor, neither of them knows what to do.

"I mean, we drink, don't we?" Tetsurou calls over the music.

"And dance!" Oikawa shouts back.

So they do just that, in that order: Oikawa leads them to a pair of open stools, and gets the bartender to make them a couple of shots. Tetsurou grins as he takes the glass, and bumps it against Oikawa's.

"Good birthday?" Oikawa asks, before downing it.

Tetsurou drinks and sets the shot glass down. " _Great_  birthday," he enthuses.

A few drinks later, Oikawa says, "We should go to the dance floor!" and Tetsurou nods, because the alcohol and the loud music are fusing together quite nicely in his brain, in layers of color and light. And he's never seen Oikawa dance while sober before, but he'd be impressed if he were any better than this. Oikawa's a little sloppy, but he uses mostly his hips and arms. Tetsurou laughs as he watches.

"Shut up, you're not that great either," Oikawa shouts, even though Tetsurou hasn't really been doing much other than bouncing on his feet.

"I didn't think I was!" Tetsurou does start dancing properly though, more focus on his hips and middle torso, adrenaline buzzing through his body. Oikawa grins as they time with the music, with the rest of the crowd, joining in jumping and throwing their hands up in the air when they can. The crowd thickens and they move closer together.

Tetsurou doesn't take his eyes off of Oikawa.

A thought, neither entirely founded nor coherent, occurs to him. "You didn't get me a birthday present!" he says, lips pressed right against Oikawa's ear.

Oikawa pulls back and meets his eyes; and then it's his mouth, ragged and hot and reeking of hard liquor, that meets his own. The heat sends a shock right to Tetsurou's dick, almost guiltily, and he opens his own mouth. A second later and Oikawa's pulled back, eyes dark and hazy.

"How about that?" he asks.

The world seems quieter. But, at the same time outside of Tetsurou's ears, the music gets louder.

The only thing he can think of doing is taking his phone out. He sees that it's past midnight. "It's not my birthday anymore," he says stupidly.

"Belated then," Oikawa says.

"Good enough," Tetsurou says, and crushes his lips against Oikawa's again. Maybe he moans, maybe Oikawa moans, but his dancing and their kissing turns into filthy grinding, where Tetsurou's letting Oikawa know about his boner as much as Oikawa's rubbing his own against him.

Somehow they're in the men's restroom and pushing their way into an empty stall and Oikawa's trailing his lips and teeth down Tetsurou's neck as Tetsurou shoves a hand in his hair. As Oikawa drops down to Tetsurou's trousers, Tetsurou murmurs to him, "Great birthday present, too," before getting lost in the feeling.

▽▽▽

It does end with a blowjob in the men's restroom; and then Tetsurou's helping him back up, laughing. Life seems to go by in staccatos: they're walking out of the restroom; they're dancing, dancing more, watching each other until the nightclub closes; they're walking back to Tetsurou's, hanging off each other; Tetsurou falls asleep, the last thing in his vision is Oikawa in the middle of a giggle.

The days that follow afterward are slightly stilted, but mostly because they don't see each other every day by the usual, and it's hard to know when to text without broaching any weird subjects. Oikawa asks if he's working a few days later but Tetsurou tells him that's when he has class. Tetsurou asks if he's available for dinner the day afterward but Oikawa says he has a Skype date with his friend back from Miyagi.

When Kenma asks on Friday,  _how was ur birthday_ , Tetsurou decides to leave the part about the blowjob out, and instead says,  _it was great!!!!! :^D got smashed and tURNT #wastedddd_

 _awesome_ , is Kenma's first reply.

then,  _btw we're coming into the city for a practice match this weekend._

 _by "we" i mean karasuno and nekoma_.

Tetsurou cackles—this is undoubtedly an open invitation from Kenma for him to come.  _you know ill be there_ , he replies.

He pauses, and deliberates.

_Can i bring a friend?_

_sure, bring whomever._

Tetsurou quickly taps out of his conversation with Kenma, and goes to Oikawa's third on the list of recent conversations.

_hey, are you busy this weekend? karasuno & nekoma are gonna have a practice match if U wanna come >:^DDDD_

Oikawa's response is near immediate.

_sure! when/where?_

Tetsurou gets the details from Kenma and sends them to Oikawa. When Oikawa sends another affirmative text, Tetsurou's chest gets lighter—wait until Karasuno sees Oikawa again. Wait until they see  _Tetsurou_ again. Wait until they see the both of them together.

The weekend couldn't come faster.

▽▽▽

But when the game rolls around, Tetsurou doesn't see Oikawa at the entrance. He says hello to Kenma and Shorty-kun, who doesn't seem surprised to see him. The match is impressive: Kageyama Tobio and Shorty-kun's combinations are getting stronger and scarier, and their new captain keeps those rowdy third years in line. Tetsurou watches fondly.

In the corner of his eye, he watches the doors to see if Oikawa comes in.

Between the first and second set there's a break. Kenma comes up to the bleachers to join him.

"Where's your friend?" he asks.

Tetsurou shakes his head. "I don't know," he says, and checks his phone. Oikawa hasn't texted him. Perhaps he should.

He taps out a,  _where are you? did you get lost?_  and pockets his phone again.

"He's alright, I'm sure," says Kenma, watching Tetsurou's pocket. "Maybe he forgot."

Tetsurou shrugs. "Maybe," he says, but his phone doesn't buzz right away like it had when he had invited him. But Tetsurou could be just hyperaware and projecting.

Kenma says, "We're good, but I think they're better." He gazes off to the court, where Kageyama Tobio and Shorty-kun are yelling words of encouragement to each other. Everyone else, save for Inuoka-chan, is backing away and looking terrified.

"They've gotten a lot better," Kenma states.

"Doesn't surprise me," says Tetsurou, but his mind is still on Oikawa. While he wouldn't put it past him for being rude and ditching, Tetsurou didn't think he would do both without some sort of teasing hint beforehand. He tries to think if Oikawa might've mentioned something like that recently, but thinks of nothing.

The referee blows the whistle. Kenma taps Tetsurou's shoulder.

"I'll get back to the court," he informs him, before leaving.

Tetsurou's not surprised when Karasuno wins. He is surprised that Oikawa doesn't send a single text throughout the rest of the game.

▽▽▽

He has his own volleyball practice the next evening. Tetsurou's busy teaching one of his teammates to properly set when, from the side, he catches a glimpse of the bleachers. Someone with messy brown hair and a too-pretty face is sitting there, overlooking the gym.

Tetsurou tries to keep his temper in check for the rest of practice—after the practice game, though, he runs out as fast as he can, as random spectators file out of the bleachers, and finds Oikawa right away outside in the corridor.

"I was just about to—"

"You came to my practice but not the fucking match you  _promised_  me you'd be at?" Tetsurou shoves him, forearm against Oikawa's collarbone. Oikawa struggles, but even though they're almost the same height, Tetsurou has a slight advantage when he's not the one being pressed up against the wall.

"I'm sorry," says Oikawa.

Tetsurou growls, "If you were sorry, you would've texted me sooner."

"I." Oikawa might be trying to say something, or can't think of anything to say, but Tetsurou doesn't care. People are watching, though. Someone puts a hand on Tetsurou's shoulder and he snarls, "Shove off."

"Fine, I'm an asshole," says Oikawa. He's glaring at Tetsurou now. Good, but not good enough. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"You made me a damn  _promise_ ," Tetsurou seethes.

"I don't recall promising anything—"

"You're insufferable." Tetsurou drags him by the collar so they're in the men's locker room. At least this way it's empty. It usually goes unused after volleyball practices since they don't sweat enough to shower or change or bring things in and out.

Holding onto Oikawa's shirt, Tetsurou says, "I invited you and you asked for a time and a place and I gave it to you, so I  _assumed_  you'd come. And you don't show and you don't text me about it and don't say anything to me until now." He lets go so that Oikawa's pushed back. "What the hell's  _wrong_  with you?"

"I," Oikawa says again, and glances away.

Tetsurou collapses onto the bench. "I don't know why I'm asking you. I don't care."

Oikawa comes up to him then, does meet his eyes. Downward, like he's trying to be intimidating.

Tetsurou stands right back up.

"You really don't care?" Oikawa whispers, face inches from his.

Tetsurou groans and pushes them into an angry kiss. Oikawa responds, licking against Tetsurou's lips so sharp and fast that Tetsurou has to put his hands on Oikawa's waist to slow him out. Oikawa's lips beg and bite until it's too much, and Tetsurou opens his mouth, buffering his hands against the hem of Oikawa's shirt. He runs his hands over warm skin and Oikawa shivers, shivers as he licks into him. His cock is hard against Tetsurou's thigh. Tetsurou grinds his leg on him.

"Fuck— _ah_ ," Oikawa moans, and Tetsurou grins, bringing his closest hand down. He teases Oikawa outside of his trousers, and Oikawa positively pushes Tetsurou, until they've backed up against the bench. Tetsurou prevents them from falling over on it.

"Right, so," says Tetsurou, ignoring Oikawa licking at his shoulder, stroking his hand down the front of Oikawa's pants. "Want to tell me why you weren't at the game yesterday?"

Oikawa crouches back. His pupils are blown, and he frowns.

"This is unfair," he says.

Tetsurou presses his thumb a little harder against Oikawa's cock.

" _Fuck_ ," Oikawa whines, and then tries to look Tetsurou up and down. "Don't tell me you're not hard, too."

"Are you going to answer the question?"

Oikawa turns away, again. "I can't do volleyball," he says. "I don't want to watch it, I don't—"

"But you've come to a few of my practices before."

"That's because I don't know you," Oikawa explains. "I don't know any of the players here, I don't know anything about the team, I—" He breaks off, sighs. "There's no pressure for it, here."

Tetsurou pulls in closer. "That's all you had to say," he says, and brings Oikawa in by the hips. Oikawa still has his head turned away, like maybe he wants to say more, but Tetsurou nips at the corner of his lips, says, "Thank you for telling me."

"No problem," Oikawa grumbles, turning to Tetsurou again. Tetsurou almost laughs, and shoves his hand down Oikawa's pants.

Oikawa gasps. The displeasure evaporates from his eyes, and he falls against Tetsurou's shoulder. "Nah," says Tetsurou, pushing him back. "You stay here." His eyes are probably as dark as Oikawa's. Oikawa is hot and leaking in his hand.

Tetsurou sinks to his knees, crudely shoves Oikawa's trousers and underwear down, licks the side of his dick. Oikawa whines and threads his fingers into his hair. "Kuroo," he says, and his voice is kind of raspy. Vaguely, Tetsurou wonders if Oikawa's jerked off to the thought of him before.

He keeps his eyes on Oikawa's face, licks the head of his dick. Oikawa is tensing and cringing in all the right ways, and Tetsurou strokes under his dick with a few long fingers, continues watching as Oikawa alternates between squeezing his eyes shut, then narrowing them into slits to watch Tetsurou.

"Don't do something like that to me again." Tetsurou draws out his tongue, dirty, licks around him, gaze fixed.

Oikawa nods almost imperceptibly. He tastes so good that Tetsurou gets bored of tantalizing him so much, and wraps his mouth around the length of Oikawa's dick, as he should. Oikawa's fingers in his hair get tighter. It makes Tetsurou smile, and he does his best to be loud and slow while he sucks at Oikawa.

"You are obnoxious in  _everything_ you do," Oikawa grunts.

Tetsurou pops off. Oikawa whines. "Wow," says Tetsurou. "I don't know what I did to deserve that."

Oikawa glares at him. "I'm sorry," he snaps, but it's kind of hot so Tetsurou can forgive him.

He returns to sucking Oikawa's dick, but tightens and hollows out his cheeks so that both of Oikawa's hands are threaded into his hair, and then he almost yanks Tetsurou back before he comes. He tries, probably with all his might, but he's also the one getting his dick sucked so it's half-hearted and Tetsurou manages to swallow some, another good portion splaying all over his lips.

Tetsurou grins. He stands up, tucks Oikawa back in, pulls his jeans up, half-open. When Oikawa's eyes clear and he seems to be back, he gets a good look at Tetsurou's face.

"Gross," he says.

Tetsurou licks around his lips. "You sure about that?"

"Yeah." Oikawa laughs, touches a part of Tetsurou's cheek with his finger. "You got some," he says, and then wipes his finger on Tetsurou's shirt.

"That was very helpful," Tetsurou says drily.

Oikawa pushes him into a kiss, even with the taste of his come still in Tetsurou's mouth, jeans unzipped and ground against Tetsurou's own erection. Tetsurou's sure he does that on purpose.

▽▽▽

Tetsurou decides to take a chance several days later and ask Oikawa if he can go over. It's been a while since they last saw each other: he ran into Oikawa on the bus a couple of days ago and they talked. It could've been weird, but Oikawa had definitely leaned too close against him and grinned when Tetsurou cupped his ass, so Tetsurou figures there's not too much to worry about.

Still, right before he sends the text, there's the brief worry that Oikawa will take too long respond, or not respond at all, like he had with the volleyball match.

But Oikawa's response comes less than a minute later:

_i'm free whenever you are ;)_

So Tetsurou packs up his keys and cellphone and wallet as quickly as he can, tugs on his jacket, and is out the door in minutes. He texts back,  _how free??_ and gets  _;* ;* ;*_ in response.

When he gets to Oikawa's, he's barely made it in before Oikawa pulls him by the lapels of his jackets, and, laughing, shoves a filthy kiss against Tetsurou's mouth. Tetsurou kisses back eagerly, managing to push the door closed before shucking his jacket off. "Do you want to lock it?" he breathes against Oikawa's face.

Oikawa makes a tiny whimpering noise, probably because their mouths are busy doing something else. "No one's gonna come in, so that's not important," he says, and Tetsurou laughs.

He half-expects Oikawa to bring them to his bedroom, but instead Oikawa pushes him into the leather sofa. It's kind of uncomfortable and loud, but, as Oikawa unbuttons Tetsurou's shirt with his teeth, Tetsurou decides it'll have to do. He lets Oikawa crawl around on top of him until his shirt's off, lick at his stomach, until Tetsurou yanks him by the armpits so that their bodies are parallel again.

"What're you thinking about doing?" he asks, as Oikawa sits on him, starts undressing himself.

"Mm." Oikawa grins. He's a lot paler than Tetsurou, like he hasn't been under sunlight for a while. "I don't know, we've both sucked each other's dicks."

"Yeah." Tetsurou's mouth waters at the thought. "That was a pretty good time."

Oikawa has his knees on either side of Tetsurou's body, and he starts to wriggle off his pants. "How do you feel about rimming?" he asks.

Tetsurou's dick practically jumps at the suggestion. If possible, his mouth waters more. "I feel excellently about rimming," he says, and helps Oikawa get his trousers off.

They turn him around so that Tetsurou doesn't have to move, and Oikawa bends over so that his torso is hovering above Tetsurou's cock, as Tetsurou takes in the sight. His ass is right in his face, and Tetsurou can see the pink, getting darker and deeper. He licks his forefinger but hesitates. He pushes his lips between Oikawa's ass cheeks, first. Oikawa moans and pushes up against him.

"Use your tongue," he suggests, and Tetsurou obliges. Oikawa holds himself from writhing, but Tetsurou can tell how much he's tensed by the way Oikawa's legs are shaking as he licks into him.

Oikawa manages, between a gasp, "When was your first time?"

"First time eating ass?" Tetsurou muffles his words into Oikawa, and he shudders.

"N-No." Oikawa's legs are still shaking. Tetsurou puts his hands on them, in hopes of calming him. "I mean like, any s-sexual encounter."

Tetsurou pulls away, licks at his forefinger again. He traces around Oikawa's asshole. Oikawa shoves his face into the couch armrest.

"If we're being honest," he says, "it was my birthday."

Oikawa glances back, blinks. His face is surprisingly clear.

"Really?"

Tetsurou shrugs. "It was a good first time," he says, and slips less than an inch into Oikawa. Oikawa jerks back and tries to get Tetsurou in deeper. He's tight, and Tetsurou unintentionally lets his breath hitch.

Oikawa clenches as soon as Tetsurou slips out, and then in a little more. "God, okay, um," he says, and Tetsurou laughs to himself.

"You're easy to please, aren't you?"

"Shut up," says Oikawa, but Tetsurou licks around him while he starts slowly fucking him and doesn't hear any complaints.

"Um," moans Oikawa, between his moans and ragged breathing, "ah, do you want me to—to suck you off?" He thrusts his elbow near Tetsurou's crotch area, but not quite near his dick. Tetsurou can feel Oikawa's precome dribbling on his chest. Maybe afterwards he'll ask Oikawa to lick it off.

"I mean, if you can," says Tetsurou, "but it seems like you're gonna come soon, and I'm pretty okay with jerking off in your hair."

Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say, because Oikawa's inhales quickly, and he tightens around Tetsurou's finger. He's only using the first, but Oikawa definitely sounds like he's going to come. Tetsurou wriggles his finger around, and Oikawa moans. He didn't think it would feel this good. Maybe Tetsurou should try it out himself.

He's about to ask Oikawa if he wants him to tug him off, when Oikawa says, "I-I'm gonna get the lubricant." Tetsurou takes his finger out and Oikawa wriggles off. Tetsurou slaps his ass as he retreats to his bedroom.

"Why?" Tetsurou asks. "Ready for my dick already?"

He's only joking, but when Oikawa winks, his chest tightens. Tetsurou's not against it, but if someone had told him in the morning that he'd be fucking Oikawa Tooru today, he wouldn't have believed them.

Oikawa comes back with the lube. "You don't have to fuck me with your dick yet if you don't want," he says, and it's the  _yet_  that sort of reassures Tetsurou. "I was going to tell you to use another finger, but we need lube for that. Otherwise it's up to you."

He looks surprisingly innocent, naked and thick reddened cock pressed against his stomach. Tetsurou says, "We'll continue with the fingers then," and Oikawa looks pleased.

Tetsurou spreads the lube on his fingers, as Oikawa gets himself ready, and then Tetsurou manages to slip his index and middle finger into Oikawa with little effort. He imagines Oikawa has done this before; and the image of Oikawa fingering himself makes a groan escape through Tetsurou's lips, too.

He hears a chuckle from Oikawa's end. "Enjoying yourself?" he asks.

"I always do." Tetsurou lets his long fingers fuck Oikawa slowly, and he shifts them around so that Oikawa can get used to the feeling. At one point Oikawa's muscles tense and he jerks straight into Tetsurou's face—"Sorry," he grunts, between his panting.

"I don't think breaking my fingers while they're in your ass is a good idea," Tetsurou says, and Oikawa laughs. Tetsurou kisses his ass cheek.

He doesn't ask when he wraps his fingers around Oikawa's cock, just does it, and Oikawa doesn't complain, his precome enough to smoothly jerk him off until he comes. Tetsurou continues gliding his fingers through and through as he does, with a very loud whine outmatching his noises from before. Once he's done, Tetsurou pulls back a come-slicked hand, yanks his trousers and underwear to his knees with the other, and stands up. Oikawa's pulled himself back so he's sitting, and watches as Tetsurou easily jerks himself. He comes on Oikawa's face and shoulders, with Oikawa's lips half-parted like he's expecting it.

"Fuck," Tetsurou groans when he starts, and again when he's done. He kicks off his pants entirely. Both he and Oikawa are in no state to put their clothes back on.

Oikawa blinks up at him, and he licks under his nose. "I should get tissues," he says.

Tetsurou says, "You should get more than tissues."

He goes into the kitchen and uses his elbow to wash his hands in the sink. When he's done and returns to the living room, Oikawa says, "Very hygienic, washing off semen in the kitchen."

"Oh, shut up, it was yours," says Tetsurou. "Now are we going to take a shower, or what?"

They do, although Tetsurou takes mild pity and licks his own come off the corner of Oikawa's mouth. Oikawa laughs, and shoves them both in the shower. They scrub each other off, before alternating with the shampoo and conditioner bottles, facing each other. Oikawa's face is much more distracting than his dick.

"So," says Tetsurou. "Is this... Are we...?" Dating? Fucking? Just incredibly horny when we're together a lot?

Oikawa hums. "Whatever you want us to be," he says.

It's really not the answer Tetsurou was looking for. But Oikawa seems to be in such a good mood that he supposes it'll have to do, for now. "Fucking sometimes?" he offers, and Oikawa grins.

That's a yes.

▽▽▽

Oikawa's brought over his school things this time, but they've left his bag in the corner after Tetsurou pushed him into his bedroom.

Afterward, Oikawa cleans himself off, and then bends down to rummage through his things.

Tetsurou admires the view. A second later and he furrows his eyebrows, as Oikawa brings his textbook into bed with them.

"I thought you just had an exam," he says.

Oikawa exhales through his nose. "Yeah."

"Christ." Tetsurou watches as Oikawa pores over his textbook, even though just several minutes before he'd been crying out Tetsurou's name from underneath him. He rests his head against Oikawa's shoulder. Oikawa doesn't respond, but doesn't push him away either.

"What do you want to do?" Tetsurou asks, after a few minutes of silence.

Oikawa shrugs. "Maybe a nurse. Or a pediatrician. I don't know."

"Pediatrician?" Tetsurou sits up.

Oikawa nods. "I helped teach some kids in high school once, but..."

"But what?"

"I don't know." Oikawa shrugs again.

Tetsurou tries to get a better look at his face. There's something about it that throws him off. Maybe Tetsurou's question had bothered him. He kisses the space between Oikawa's neck and shoulder, and Oikawa cranes his head to the side.

"Tell me if you need me for anything," he says, even though he's pretty sure he'll be useless for anything Oikawa needs regarding schoolwork. He can do a lot to help out Oikawa in other aspects, though. He smiles to himself.

▽▽▽

Oikawa asks if he wants to join him for dinner the next week, so Tetsurou makes sure he's free that evening. Usually that time slot's for a class, but he texts a friend to sign him in, and tells Oikawa yes.

Oikawa picked a noodle shop, which is kind of domestic for Tetsurou's tastes. He doesn't complain, though, lets Oikawa find a table, and then slides in the seat across from him. "I thought you might've picked somewhere more exciting," he says, and Oikawa raises his eyebrows.

"Do you want to go to the nightclub again?" he asks, and Tetsurou laughs.

"Eventually, probably yes," he says. He spots Oikawa hiding a smile behind his menu.

They order their food, and Oikawa gets a few side dishes too. As they hand their menus back, Tetsurou feels weird. This is like a date, he realizes. Well, he doesn't quite know if Oikawa plans on paying for the both of them or not. But everything about the atmosphere puts him on edge.

It baffles him further when Oikawa asks, "Are you alright?" like he can detect it, even though Tetsurou's sure he hides it well. He nods.

"Alright," says Oikawa.

Perhaps their conversation in the shower wasn't enough. Tetsurou thinks he might say something, when Oikawa's phone chimes. "Ah," he says, and glances at it. "Just a text."

Tetsurou lets him reply to it. He's thinking too much.

He pulls out his own phone.

Oikawa's phone chimes again, just as he begins to put it away. "So—hey." He grins at his phone. "Okay."

Tetsurou whistles. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"'From: I don't play baseball either,'" Oikawa reads out loud. "'oikawa tooru has an ass that won't quit.' Thanks."

"You still have me in your phone as that?" Tetsurou grabs at his phone. "Gimme that."

He ignores Oikawa's surprised yelp and goes to his contacts list. He puts himself in as ಠಿ ˑ̫ ಠಿ.

"Perfect," he says, handing it back.

Oikawa glances down at his phone, and rolls his eyes. "Now I'm going to have to try to figure out who you are all over again," he says.

▽▽▽

Tetsurou shoves him in the storage closet, which thankfully isn't very cluttered and also in the back so they don't have to worry about anyone walking in. He can see Oikawa's smirk in the half darkness: "Asshole," he mutters, out loud.

"One for one," Oikawa replies, and grinds against him. Tetsurou presses his lips together. A groan escapes from them, deep in his throat, anyway.

"What did you plan on accomplishing by coming into my work during break?" Tetsurou asks. Oikawa had texted him for when his break would be. Five minutes ago, he'd come in just as Tetsurou was taking his apron off.

Oikawa slips a hand up his shirt. "Something like this," he says.

Tetsurou says, "You should probably know that my breaks are less than fifteen minutes long."

"We should hurry up then," Oikawa whispers.

An impressive ten minutes later, Tetsurou's buttoning his pants back up, his shirt barely undone. As Oikawa follows out from behind him, one of Tetsurou's coworkers passes by. He looks funnily at them.

"Hey," Oikawa greets, adjusting his hair with one hand and holding up the dirty other.

Tetsurou goes back to hit him in the arm, and laughs.

▽▽▽

The weekend before the next round of exams, before winter break, Oikawa invites Tetsurou over and Tetsurou eagerly accepts. As they're lazily making out on Oikawa's couch, Oikawa casually mentions, "—my exam tomorrow—" and Tetsurou breaks away, glares at Oikawa, and then rolls over onto his side.

Oikawa pokes him. "Kuroo, what the hell?"

"We're not going any further until you get a good mount of studying time in," Tetsurou says.

Oikawa pokes him again. "So does that mean we can continue making out, at least?"

When Tetsurou glances behind him, Oikawa's grinning suggestively. "Nope," says Tetsurou, and turns back around so sharply that he ends up falling off the couch.

Oikawa laughs. Tetsurou says, "You know, that's not helping your position right now," and Oikawa's face suddenly turns serious.

"I don't need to—"

"You talk about how you always need to," says Tetsurou. He turns back around, even on the floor. "Don't tell me you invited me over to procrastinate."

"I didn't!" He doesn't sound entirely believable, but then Oikawa continues, "I just figured I'd feel better overall if I weren't alone."

"You're not alone now," Tetsurou says. "You should study."

Oikawa whines.

"I was thinking about asking you if I could fuck you with my dick today," says Tetsurou.

Oikawa stops. Even though Tetsurou can't see him, he can only imagine the range of emotions that are flashing across Oikawa's face right now. He grins to himself, too. They both might be predictable, but right now, Oikawa has more to lose.

"If I study," Oikawa says slowly, "will you?"

Tetsurou hums to himself.

Oikawa shakes him. " _Kuroo_."

"I said I was the one who wanted to ask you." Tetsurou turns back around, and Oikawa steals a kiss from him before quickly pulling away. Tetsurou eyes him, but Oikawa is cheeky as he starts on his textbooks.

A few hours later, the sun's well below the Tokyo skyline, and they're in the cluttered mess that's Oikawa's room, Oikawa fucking himself on Tetsurou's cock. They'd both been too impatient for Oikawa to leave and come back with the lube and condoms, so they'd haphazardly fucked against each other as they backed into Oikawa's room, danced around everything strewn on the floor to get to his bed.

Tetsurou watches as Oikawa arches his back, tightening himself around his dick. This is definitely better than that night with the wine, he thinks faintly. Oikawa rocks himself into him, taking his sweet time, and Tetsurou does his best not to press bruises into Oikawa's waist.

As Tetsurou's insides curl into the feeling, he hears something else—a faint vibrating. A second later he blinks and realizes Oikawa is bending over to pick out his phone from a nearby jacket. Without any shame he answers it and breathes, "Ah, Iwa-chan."

"Oikawa!" Tetsurou squawks, and hits his phone out of his hand. Oikawa laughs as they both hear a, " _Oikawa? What are you—!_ " before it snaps shut and flies to the other side of the room, intact.

"Why the hell did you pick up your phone when we're busy?" Tetsurou demands.

"Iwa-chan's pretty used to my, ah, mischief."

Tetsurou rolls his eyes and fucks Oikawa seriously, now, using the pressure of his hands to grind him down harder. Oikawa yelps and cries out Kuroo's name, almost girlishly, grinning the whole time.

Tetsurou flips them over so that he's hovering above Oikawa, pins his hands back, and fucks him until Oikawa can't seem to take it, coming messily all over both of them. He greedily snakes down and slips the condom off Tetsurou's cock, jerks him off until he comes as well.

Oikawa crawls away, front dirty, to grab his phone from the corner of the room. Tetsurou leans back and murmurs, " _Shit_."

"We are," Oikawa says, as he taps the button on his phone, "unstoppable. Hi, Iwa-chan. Sorry for interrupting you earlier."

Tetsurou watches as Oikawa listens, and then laughs. He says to Tetsurou, "He says thank you."

"You," says Tetsurou, "are the only one here who would've been okay with letting that happen."

"Oh, I'm sure if you got to know Iwa-chan better, you'd want him to listen to you having sex, too." Oikawa winks. He returns to the call. "Yeah? Yeah, of course I am. Hm. Is that all, then?"

He glances at Tetsurou again. "A friend," he says into the phone. "What's with that tone of voice? I do mean a friend."

He draws patterns into Tetsurou's thigh as he says this.

▽▽▽

_are you busy?_

Tetsurou's phone buzzes right as he gets out of the shower. He wipes his face and picks it up.

_you know me ;^) why?_

_mmm I mean we can sext again, or..._

They'd spent the majority of winter break texting each other dirtier and dirtier things to see who stopped replying first—either because he was too humiliated to reply and went off to jerk it alone, or were with others and had to shove his phone away and hide his boner as best as he could. Or both: Tetsurou had been out with the high schoolers at lunch and Oikawa wouldn't stop texting so he had to excuse himself and jerk off in the public toilet.

Kenma pretended to throw up in his own food when he came back.

But they've been back for a week, because Oikawa had left, too, so it wasn't like Tetsurou could pop in back in the city to say hello. Neither of them had seen each other since the last day of exams. Tetsurou can't help frowning to himself, though—even though he has no qualm with the sex aspect of their relationship, he figures that either of them should feign some sort of prelude before jumping into the bedroom.

Still, he replies with,  _what, can't type out the word fuck?_  and smirks when Oikawa instantly replies,  _fine, we can FUCK_

_please FUCK me kuroo_

_let me FUCK your mouth_

_or FUCK your ass. or you can fuck my ass. either way but we didn't try me dicking you yet._

He's pretty quick for someone with a flip phone. A part of Tetsurou still wishes they might've gotten dinner first, or something; but he merely sends,  _come over and lets see what kind of FUCKing we can do :*_

This time they figure out that Tetsurou likes having Oikawa's fingers in his ass as much as Oikawa likes Tetsurou's. "Ah," says Tetsurou, wincing as Oikawa slips out. "Shit."

"Does it hurt?"

"A little, but I've never—"

"I'm the first person to put fingers up your ass?"

Tetsurou tries to look over his shoulder. He can't see Oikawa entirely, but he'll be damned if Oikawa's not smirking at his own phrasing.

"You're disgusting," he says, and then Oikawa fucks two long fingers into him, and Tetsurou nearly forces himself down. Oikawa lets him ride his fingers, and when they're done Tetsurou very willingly sucks him off until he comes.

Oikawa lies in Tetsurou's bed, hair messy and pressing into the pillow. "Mm," he says. "You know that time when you put your dick inside me?"

"How could I forget?" Tetsurou rolls his eyes and faces him.

Oikawa says, "You did this thing where you pushed my wrists together so I couldn't move them, and it was..." He drops off into a dreamy sigh.

Tetsurou shoves him playfully. "You kinky fuck," he says.

Oikawa grins. "Don't tell me you didn't find it hot too," he replies. "There are other things I'd like to try, too, but I don't think you're ready."

"Really." Tetsurou sits up and crosses his legs. "Okay then. Challenge me."

▽▽▽

Oikawa is into a number of things, which is unsurprising. What is surprising is when they go out, Oikawa reveals that he's trying to convince Tetsurou to get in a skirt, and Tetsurou thinks he's joking.

Then Oikawa walks out of a dressing room, with some dignity, in a very short skirt he'd hidden from Tetsurou and the person behind the desk with a sweater. His legs have a little hair and Tetsurou is tempted to ask him if he shaves. It falls barely past his thigh and Oikawa strikes an obnoxious pose.

They're pretty lucky that they're alone.

"Alright," Tetsurou says, standing up and walking over to him. "I see why you want me in a skirt. Or. Wanted to wear a skirt yourself."

Oikawa sticks his tongue out and winks.

Tetsurou pushes him back into the dressing room and fucks him, bent over the bench, pressing back moans. Oikawa's still wearing the skirt. Tetsurou's glad he's started carrying condoms and lube in his wallet.

Sometime while his cock was still in Oikawa's ass, he felt his phone vibrate from his blazer pocket. When they're done, he shucks his trouser back up and takes his phone out.

"I got a new text from you?"

Oikawa's message is all gibberish.

"Oh," says Oikawa, looking through the clothes he'd left on the dressing room bench. "We probably accidentally sent it." He finds his jacket, and his phone screen is glowing with a notification. "Damn, we didn't call Iwa-chan."

"You're terrible."

Oikawa peers over as Tetsurou types out a response to Oikawa's gibberish message. "What's that? What did you put me as in your phone?"

Tetsurou shows him.

Oikawa smirks. "Is it because I can do amazing things with my tongue?"

"It means that you stick it out too much."

When Oikawa does, Tetsurou uses his hand to shove his tongue back in his mouth. This leads to Oikawa drawing his finger in, and staring at Tetsurou while he sucks on it loudly.

"Don't you dare," Tetsurou starts, but Oikawa pops off and goes back to redressing himself.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he says.

▽▽▽

Oikawa has Tetsurou back up against his own dining table. After five hours of studying and watching Oikawa study, they're both at a point where they need to unwind desperately. Tetsurou says, "It's not particularly comfortable when a table edge is digging into your legs," and Oikawa chuckles, says, "Sorry."

They somehow decide it's a good idea if Oikawa sits on the table, only a little bit taller that Tetsurou has to tilt his head to kiss him. Their hands are lying absently on top of each other, but then Oikawa slides his out, grips the back of Tetsurou's head. He forces the kiss a little harder, their teeth clacking noisily against each other.

Tetsurou pulls away and says, "What's the use in that?"

"It hurts." Oikawa smiles, and Tetsurou rolls his eyes.

"Right, you like that."

Oikawa's pretty good at getting their clothes off without Tetsurou noticing until his hand is winding around Tetsurou's cock, and he rubs at him languidly. Tetsurou hisses and bites down on Oikawa's shoulder, where his shirt is still slipping off.

"Are you going to fuck me again, Kuroo?" Oikawa's eyes glint and Tetsurou can't say no.

As he preps himself and begins to push himself into Oikawa, he recalls a few other things that Oikawa had told him. Tetsurou brings his hand up and slowly wraps it around Oikawa's neck. Oikawa's eyes widen, and his mouth settles widely. "You remembered," he whispers, voice growing harsher as Tetsurou tightens his grip.

Oikawa continues nodding and Tetsurou decides to keep going. If Oikawa ever said no, he knows that's when he should pull away. But he fucks Oikawa, eventually to a rhythm, palm pushing against his throat so that Oikawa's cheeks flush pink and he comes much sooner than Tetsurou is used to. He shakes his head when Tetsurou starts pulling himself away, and manages in a raspy tone, "Come inside me, Kuroo." So Tetsurou does, taking in the sight of Oikawa like this and  _wanting_ , and it comes easier than expected for him, too.

When they break apart, Tetsurou prepares an apology, but Oikawa kisses him, grinning against his lips.

▽▽▽

Oikawa's apartment door is open. Tetsurou walks in, and lobs his volleyball at the back of Oikawa's head. Oikawa, who hadn't heard him come in apparently, yelps and swivels around so fast that Tetsurou is sure for a moment he'd get whiplash.

"Kuroo, what the hell?" he demands.

Tetsurou shrugs. "Not my fault you left your apartment door open," he says. "Do you want to practice volleyball with me?"

He doesn't expect an affirmative, in all honesty. Oikawa's come to a few matches and practices here and there, but only makes snide comments and nothing particularly constructive.

So when Oikawa seems to deliberate, and then puts his book down and says, "Sure," Tetsurou forgets what to do next, for a moment.

Then Oikawa asks, "With you or your team?" and Tetsurou says, "Just me." Oikawa grins.

"Should be fun."

They go out, but Tetsurou doesn't need to lead them since Oikawa knows where the regular gym is, too. It's past closing time, but being on particularly good terms with the coach, especially as one of the few players to take the sport seriously and play well, gives Tetsurou an advantage. So when they get to the gym, he unlocks the door, and puts in the key to turn on the lights.

Oikawa steps on the court and takes a deep breath.

"Not enough air salonpas," he comments.

Tetsurou nudges him, and starts towards the equipment room. "Help me set up," he says, opening the doors.

He and Oikawa are each strong enough to put up the net and hold the stands in place. Tetsurou jumps a bit as he holds the volleyball. On the other side, Oikawa crouches, ready to receive.

"Any particular reason you wanted me to practice with you?" he calls.

"Well, we've never played against each other before." Tetsurou lifts the ball in the air, and does an overhead serve. "And I've never seen you play in person."

Oikawa receives easily, but Tetsurou wasn't particularly aiming away from him. He sends the ball back, and Tetsurou receives his as well.

"Plus," Tetsurou adds, "I imagine if you devoted so much of your high school time to the sport, you must miss it some days."

Oikawa is quiet as he hits the ball back over to Tetsurou. When it's his again, he says, "I miss it every day."

They continue playing, in a steady rhythm, until Tetsurou is so lost in the motion that he accidentally hits the volleyball too hard. Oikawa says, "Out," and lets it bounce past him, outside of the white line.

"Good call," Tetsurou says. Oikawa walks over to pick up the ball.

He's weighing it in his hands, bouncing it up and down. Right before he starts, Tetsurou realizes what he's about to witness: the famous (or infamous, depending on whom you asked) Oikawa Tooru service ace, performing a jump serve.

It's perfect and flies right at Tetsurou's forearms and bounces in bounds, and then out of bounds. When Tetsurou glances back, he catches a flash of hesitance, and then Oikawa's grinning.

"Well, you've still got it," Tetsurou says, as he goes to the ball.

▽▽▽

Oikawa texts him,  _kILLED THAT LAST EXAM!!!!_  early during the day, so Tetsurou makes plans to take him out that night. He texts back,  _this calls for a celebration!!!! also congrats :^DDD_

_hell yeah hell YEAH_

They go to the bar they'd been kicked out from the last time they'd been there. But none of the employees seem to recognize them, so Tetsurou and Oikawa order drinks celebrating that, and then the next for Oikawa's recent student accomplishments.

"I keep forgetting to ask," Tetsurou says, as he drinks his second round, "but how did you do on the other exams?"

"Well enough," Oikawa replies. He pours the remains of his first drink into his second cup.

Tetsurou kicks him under the table. "You're never specific. Be more specific."

"Above average," Oikawa takes a sip.

Tetsurou rolls his eyes. "Seriously, you asshole," he says, and Oikawa grins from behind his drink, meeting Tetsurou's eyes.

"Let's just say," he says, setting his cup down, "that in the instances I didn't get a one hundred percent, I got very, very close to a one hundred percent."

It takes a moment—and then Tetsurou barks out, in delighted surprise. "Well thanks for telling me  _now_ , you dick," he says. "I've been worried all this time for nothing. And you keep studying like you're gonna fail."

"If I don't study the way I do I'd definitely fail," Oikawa says seriously.

Tetsurou knows this means that anything shy of being close to a one hundred percent is failure in Oikawa's eyes, but he supposes that if he were a med student, too, he'd be similar. Probably. Or at least aim for somewhere in the average area. Tetsurou makes goals that keep him from worrying.

They drink, and drink more, until Oikawa is laughing at Tetsurou's beer mustache and Tetsurou orders a round of shots to retort. "I," says Oikawa, after Tetsurou's given the order, "have drunk more than you, and am holding everything better than you."

"Well," Tetsurou starts, but then he lets out an impressive burp that Oikawa loudly hoots at.

They take their shots, cheering—"To sixty-nining!" Oikawa shouts, and Tetsurou yells in a whisper, "Do you want to get kicked out?" They return to their beer and Oikawa giggles to himself; and Tetsurou can't get the thought out of his mind.

After they finish their current round, Tetsurou insists on paying, but maybe Oikawa had been right, because Oikawa gets his wallet out faster, and then he's already paid and pushing Tetsurou out the door while Tetsurou's still counting his money.

"Is that—Is that enough?" he asks, taking out the bills, and Oikawa laughs and says, "Don't  _worry_. We'll just sleep at your place tonight."

They do, and Tetsurou's ready to pass out. He thinks, for a second, of checking his phone for the time—but once they're in his bed, with the lights on, Oikawa leans over to him and whispers.

"I can't stop thinking about it."

"What?"

Tetsurou blinks. Oikawa's eyes are dark and hazy and only inches from his. He ruts himself against Tetsurou.

"The." Tetsurou struggles to find the words. "Sixty-nining?"

Oikawa nods. Tetsurou realizes a little belatedly that he's been harboring a semi-erection for a while, actually, since Oikawa's mentioned it, but Tetsurou's been distracted. Now, Oikawa unzips Tetsurou's jeans, and asks, "Do you want to?"

"Yes," Tetsurou says, almost immediately. He can't remember the last time he sucked Oikawa's dick. He misses it.

They lie on their sides, and Oikawa's mouth greets Tetsurou's cock like an old friend. Tetsurou thrusts his fingers into a ring around him. He says mostly to Oikawa's dick and balls, "I'm going to see if I can put all of you in my mouth."

Oikawa moans around him, at the declaration. Tetsurou places his lips around Oikawa, and fucks him in his mouth. He can feel Oikawa's head bobbing near his thighs. The pleasure from Oikawa's mouth and being bent on getting Oikawa off feel removed, but Tetsurou fills himself out in every way. He ducks Oikawa in deeper, and deeper, until he's drawing Oikawa's dick in fully, hitting the back of his mouth. Oikawa grunts and his teeth graze the side of Tetsurou's length. They both hiss.

Tetsurou rolls his fingertips against Oikawa's balls, and hums. "Fuck— _holy_ ," Oikawa exclaims, and then he's hot and wet down Tetsurou's throat, as Tetsurou begins to draw back. He wipes what's left on his lips, and lets Oikawa continue with his own dick.

Tetsurou comes without any urgency, although it's mostly because Oikawa had flicked his tongue to his balls, fingers teasing the crack of Tetsurou's ass. When he sits back up he says, "My arm is sore," and Tetsurou, clumsily, pulls him onto him, and they both collapse.

"Awesome," Tetsurou laughs against Oikawa's bare chest.

Oikawa's grinning, and looking like he's doing his best not to. "My sore arm is awesome?" he says.

"You," Tetsurou starts. Sleep hits him like a wave, and he suddenly doesn't want to know how late it is. "We should turn off the light," he says instead.

Oikawa nods, and pads out of the bed to shut them off. Tetsurou smiles to himself as Oikawa climbs in. The side Oikawa usually sleeps on is always warm.

▽▽▽

After practice, Tetsurou texts Oikawa,  _what are you up to right now?_

_not being fucked by you. How about you?_

Tetsurou rolls his eyes.

_just finished volleyball practice :^p_

_sounds sweaty :*_

Tetsurou tries not to, but he ends up thinking about fucking Oikawa while still in his volleyball uniform. Maybe in his old Nekoma outfit, fucking Oikawa in his Aoba Jousai uniform. If Tetsurou could use the showers without getting funny looks, Tetsurou would jerk off in them.

Instead he texts Oikawa back.

_fine, fine, you got me, I'll b over in 20_

_:*_

When he gets to Oikawa's apartment, Oikawa raises his eyebrows at Tetsurou's shorts. "I really got you," he says, as Tetsurou closes and locks the door, then pins him against the nearest wall.

Tetsurou huffs. "I was just thinking about certain," he says, and stops because that's not supposed to be in his element. Oikawa smirks.

"Thinking about certain what?" he asks. "I'm clearly missing something, and if it's gotten you hard without me around, I'd like to know."

Tetsurou grumbles, "I was thinking about us in our old high school uniforms," and then, "you know, having sex in them." At this point, Oikawa is practically laughing.

"If I knew that," he says, "I would've brought it to university. Too bad, though."

"Yeah, too bad," Tetsurou says, before grinding his mouth and his erection all up against Oikawa. Oikawa responds like maybe he wants to try fucking Tetsurou this time, but then Tetsurou curls his finger between his ass cheeks and Oikawa surrenders, wraps himself around as Tetsurou takes control.

▽▽▽

"Hey," says Tetsurou, a few post-sex cuddles later. It's the weekend now; they've been fucking for the better part of the day. Oikawa's ordering food on his laptop and Tetsurou hooks his chin over his thigh.

"Hey," Oikawa says, not looking at him. He types fast. He and Kenma should race.

Tetsurou asks, "What do you like about me?" mostly out of interest. He supposes at some point when Oikawa started getting used to him, Tetsurou should've been surprised. He wasn't. He doesn't know if it's the same on Oikawa's end, though.

Oikawa glances down at him. Tetsurou remembers how many times he's asked for Tetsurou to come over because he was lonely. "Hard to say," Oikawa answers.

Tetsurou bites down on his naked thigh, and Oikawa cries out.

"I want to know!"

"Okay, my god." But Oikawa runs his fingers through Tetsurou's hair and rubs against his scalp. An embarrassed sound escapes Tetsurou's lips. Oikawa pretends not to hear. "I mean, I guess at the top of my list is how similar we are."

"Mm." Tetsurou curls his head towards him in response. A second later and he makes sense of Oikawa's words. "Really?"

Oikawa shrugs. "It's true, isn't it?"

"It is," Tetsurou says. He watches as Oikawa continues typing away at his laptop, unbothered. Oikawa doesn't add anymore, either.

Their food comes and they eat and watch a movie on Oikawa's laptop, then fuck around a little more. Oikawa certainly doesn't sound like Tetsurou as they rub their dicks together, but he equally teases and pushes them on until they hit breaking point together, in a spilled mess. It's dark outside and they usually like fucking under a light. Tetsurou goes to turn off the lamp as Oikawa burrows himself in his blankets.

Tetsurou watches the steady rise and fall from the side. He's spooned against Oikawa, pretty regular if they're both at least half-conscious. After a moment Oikawa's breathing slows, and Tetsurou knows what Oikawa's sleep sounds like.

He quietly slips out of bed with his phone and finds Oikawa's. A few minutes later he crawls back in, small knots forming inside his chest.

▽▽▽

He stays the next morning and leaves in the afternoon. Tetsurou decides to make dinner by himself, and takes his time cooking his dishes and rice. He brings them to his dining table, and then takes out his phone.

Tetsurou knows "Iwa-chan's" full name is Iwaizumi Haijme, because he'd heard Oikawa call him that before. That's what he'd put him as on his own phone, and selects before starting to type out a text message.

**_To: Iwaizumi Hajime_ **  
_hi, i'm oikawa tooru's friend, the. ah. one you heard us that one time?_

He waits, and starts on his dinner. He's only eaten one chopstick scoop of rice before his phone vibrates.

_oh, Kuroo, right? He talked about you over the winter holidays a lot_

Tetsurou sets his chopsticks down.

_that's good to know!  
and i don't want to be nosy, but... Am i the only one he talks about?_

_for the most part, unless I've spaced out somewhere_

Tetsurou gnaws at his bottom lip. He doesn't know if he's more hungry or anxious.

_alright  
I mean we hang out a lot because were friends, but I guess ive never seen or heard him with other people_

_Oikawa can be like that?_  
_i mean I'm gonna be honest_  
_Im impressed we've stuck together this long_  
_he likes to isolate himself_  
_sometimes_  
_I guess_

_I don't know about_ , Tetsurou starts, and then backspaces. He starts out a new text.

_did he have a lot of friends in high school?_

_I mean, there was me, there were ppl on the vball team,  
girls haha_

_that doesn't surprise me :^P_

_i guess it was mostly just people who were useful to him now that I think about it?_

Tetsurou's about to reply when Iwaizumi sends another text.

_whats he studying in school btw_

_oh  
um_

_it's fine, if he told me not to tell u, you dont have to_

_it's not that_

He winces after he presses send.

_i'm just surprised he didn't tell you...?_

_weird_

His knee jiggles. Something's biting at him on the inside—not because he feels like this is the right thing to do, but he's never talked to Iwaizumi before and Tetsurou feels like he's seeing a part of Oikawa he, after months of knowing each other, hadn't seen before.

He sends, _i'm sorry, i didn't mean to worry you_

_it's fine! ppl make assumptions like that especially when they dont tell you whom they havent told  
:P_

Tetsurou, personally, is impressed that someone like Iwaizumi has had the patience to stay with Oikawa this long as well.

_oikawa's just_  
_well, you know how we are, I guess, with the_  
_sex thing_

_considering how much i asked him to shut up about it during break, yeah definitely_

_I suppose i just want to call him clingy but don't know if this is a consistent habit? youve known him longer and better than i have so i wanted to know_  
_because he doesnt seem to be very outwardly_  
_but hes always free every time i ask him he is_

_Im not sure clingy is the right word_

_and even though he asks less often than me sometimes Im in the middle of stuff and we push things off until later_  
_i dunno clingys the only word i can think of :^/_  
_he talks about being alone a lot :^////_

_oikawa hasnt really had any friends outside of volleyball or anything honestly  
even when he's had girlfriends its bc they asked him out_

_:^/////_

_ah, yeah, I think i see what you mean now : <  
did u ask oikawa for my number to talk to me about this? _

_oh, no, i might've stolen it..... oops >^)_

_not trying to sound suspicious, i just would be surprised if it gave it to u without a fight  
that makes sense_

_yeah he definitely wouldnt have given it to me without a fight lmao_

_Has anyone told u 2 that ur a lot a like?_

Tetsurou's food is getting cold, but his eyes are glued to his phone screen even when he laughs.

_he actually said that last night! lol  
but u two are the ones on the same wavelength..._

_I think if ur unfortunate to share any character traits w oikawa  
youd be on a more similar wavelength than i am_

_that was a very underhanded insult_

_sorry, force of habit :P_

At the end of the night, when Tetsurou asks Iwaizumi not to tell Oikawa about their conversation, Iwaizumi responds,  _Of course not!_  and bids him a good sleep. Tetsurou's glad Oikawa's had someone like Iwaizumi around for most of his life.

As he ponders about Oikawa now, it occurs to him that he could be worse had he not had Iwaizumi as a friend.

▽▽▽

Oikawa invites him out for dinner a few nights later. Tetsurou's been strategically toning down the enthusiasm of his texts without, hopefully, it being too noticeable. But he agrees to dinner and arrives at the restaurant with his hands shoved in his jacket pockets.

Oikawa greets him a few minutes later. It's February, and a scarf is this time appropriately wound around his neck. They go in, not touching, and a server finds them a table by the window.

As Oikawa takes his hat and jacket off, Tetsurou, who's generally always been a little cold-blooded, watches. He asks, "What's the occasion?"

"For dinner?" Oikawa raises his eyebrows, smirks. "We're both hungry? Or at least, I am."

He puts his things next to his messenger bag. He's wearing a sweater that makes his shoulders and elbows look a little more angular, Tetsurou tries not to think of fucking him at the dinner table.

Instead, he says, "Yeah, I'm hungry too," and opens up his menu. He thinks about what might've happened if he'd said no to Oikawa's suggestion. If Oikawa had expected Tetsurou to invite himself over afterwards.

Oikawa mimics the action. A second later, he puts the menu flat in front of him and stares atop Tetsurou's, meeting his eyes.

"If there's something you've been meaning to say to me, then say it," he says.

Tetsurou freezes. Cold and heat rush over his skin. If this were Kenma, Tetsurou would only have to give him a little push before Kenma realized what was best for himself, that solitude and dependency were unhealthy.

He needs to stop comparing his best friend to his other best friend. Oikawa. Oikawa's the one with the heat in his eyes from across the dinner table, while Kenma on the daily texts his own two best friends and leads his group of teammates-turned-friends.

Oikawa continues. "I've noticed your messages," he says. "I could be paranoid, but you've been sounding different."

"Er," says Tetsurou, because Oikawa is definitely more observant than he is paranoid.

"You've been speaking in the passive than the usual assertive or interjectory," says Oikawa. "I don't know if you've noticed, but it's a pretty big difference."

"Oh," says Tetsurou. When Oikawa doesn't stop staring at him, he adds, "I guess?"

"What the hell's been going on?"

Tetsurou turns away. His nerves are winding too fast together, and his ears are suddenly more aware of the conversations that are going around them.

"I'm worried about you," he confesses.

Oikawa's eyes widen. His hand moves like he wants to punch the table.

" _Worried about me?_ "

"Oikawa," Tetsurou says, and then he finds it, bubbling up inside of him, and internally kicks himself for not having the adrenaline or words earlier, "you've been— _we've_  been too much. For both of us, I think." He barrels on even when Oikawa opens his mouth, his face in an ugly scowl. "I mean, I don't think there was anything wrong with the sex, or us, but—you spend so much time with me and I spend enough time with you and with other people, but I hardly— _hardly_  see you with anyone else, because you're either alone or—with me."

Oikawa's trying to talk over him, saying, "That's bullshit," and, "Are you saying you're tired of me?" and Tetsurou wants to say, shut up, shut up, shut up and just  _stop_.

"Of course I think we're great together," he continues, loudly, and Oikawa's mouth has pressed so tightly together that he's like a wave trying to push Tetsurou back out to sea. "But I think it's best if I had space, and you had space, for the both of us, and—"

And he thinks of fucking Oikawa, kissing Oikawa, telling him that he's gonna get a boner if he presses against his ass before they go to sleep and Oikawa assuring him they'll deal with it in the morning. But that's not the Oikawa that sitting across from him now, refusing to think what's good for him because his volleyball has become schoolwork, his Iwa-chan has become Tetsurou, and sometimes he looks so alone even when Tetsurou's around but refuses to find anyone else.

Oikawa went to class before Tetsurou was around, ate out before dinner was around, drank at bars before Tetsurou's around. It shouldn't be that hard.

"Kuroo," says Oikawa, and his voice is ugly, like he might cry. "We shouldn't have to give each other space if  _you_ think it's what's best for  _me_. That's not fair."

And he hesitates before saying, "You don't know me."

But: "I do," and then Tetsurou feels his entire throat drop into his stomach when he lets out, "I can't promise I'll come back," and it's a lie, it tastes like a lie, and he doesn't want to look at Oikawa's face.

He wimps out and does: but Oikawa's not crying. He's staring like Tetsurou's not sitting in that seat anymore, and everything freezes over like a glacier.

It wouldn't be appropriate if he apologized or says he wants what's best for Oikawa. Tetsurou shrugs like it's nothing, and Oikawa watches him like he's nothing.

Their waiter brings their drinks to the table.

Tetsurou slips out of the booth. "I guess I'll," he starts, and then stops. "Bye."

He leaves without looking behind him.

▽▽▽

So with that kind of conversation, Tetsurou is sure that they'll be at a stalemate. That Oikawa won't talk to him, he won't talk to Oikawa, he won't know what's going on with him unless Iwaizumi sends any worried texts about Oikawa's physical health, but otherwise—

It's a resigned feeling, and Tetsurou does miss him. Even with the volleyball team and the class friends he occasionally and now more frequently grabs meals with, a large chunk of his life has slipped out quietly.

At least for the first day.

Perhaps that expression had been just shock. Perhaps Oikawa had been correct, and Tetsurou doesn't know him at all.

The next day his phone gets a text from the tongue emoji:

_kuroo, i dont want to do this_  
_plz can i come Over?_  
_we can have sex and everything will be alright_

Tetsurou doesn't reply. He goes to his classes and keeps his phone on silent. When he checks the notifications between breaks, he ignores all the new text messages and reads everything else.

During lunch, he shoves his phone in one of inner pockets of his bag.

He has volleyball practice today. His mind feels oddly focused, but it's probably because of the recent absences. He passes and serves and receives. He blocks flawlessly almost every time.

As he jumps, out of the corner of his eye he unwillingly spots a figure in the stands. Tetsurou pushes back the urge to sigh and cry and shout, all at the same time.

Afterwards, Oikawa comes up to him.

"Kuroo—" he starts, but Tetsurou shoves past him and out of the gymnasium without a second glance.

▽▽▽

_kuroo, please_  
_did i do something wrong?_  
_please tell me_  
_you would tell me if I did smth wrong, right_  
_?_  
_please_

Final exams are coming around the corner in a few weeks. Tetsurou gathers the sparse notes he's taken this semester already, and plans to ask his professors for some of their lecture slides. It won't be enough for him to know the answers to every question on the exam, but it'll cover him for most. That's what Tetsurou needs.

He climbs into the train on his usual schedule. He starts making his way towards the back, before he halts. A pair of dark eyes glance at him. Tetsurou can feel them burning in the back of his skull.

The train jolts. There are a few more stops. Tetsurou bows his head down as people pass by.

A voice behind him says, "Kuroo." Tetsurou refuses to turn around.

When Oikawa leaves, Tetsurou can see his scarf, his jacket, his chin, facing Tetsurou as he gets off the train car.

The engine starts up again. Tetsurou brings his head back up.

He lets out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.

▽▽▽

Tetsurou tosses his water bottle to his coworker, who catches it and says, "Thanks." The door bell jingles. Tetsurou turns back to the cash register, and sees who's just walked in. He does a double take.

Oikawa's smile looks tired. "Hey," he says.

The muscles around Tetsurou's mouth almost want to smile, but he doesn't, forces them down. He averts his eyes to a spot on Oikawa's shoulder. "Hey."

"How are you?" Oikawa asks.

Tetsurou breathes through his nose. His coworkers are busy talking; it's like he and Oikawa are on an island alone.

"Can I take your order?"

Oikawa's face crumples, but then he patches it back up. His eyes are persistent, and he says, "Kuroo—"

Tetsurou turns away, and that shuts him up. Oikawa's eyes try to scan Tetsurou's face, but there's nothing to find there. A minute later Oikawa seems to have figured this out as well. He draws his hand back from the counter.

"Never mind then," he says, voice sharp. Tetsurou doesn't watch as he walks away.

▽▽▽

A week without Oikawa feels like a month, but that's the kind of person Oikawa is. Tetsurou keeps with his regular schedule otherwise, instances where a part of him instinctively wants to text Oikawa for a meal shafting invitations to someone else. There's less to talk about, he supposes, but when he needs to, he texts Kenma instead.

Kenma knows—Tetsurou had texted him screenshots of his and Iwaizumi's conversation, and then relayed what had happened that one dinner. Kenma's response had been,

_well you know the guy and i don't and sometimes you know what you're doing_

_that's a rare compliment to hear you give to me ;^)_

_i said 'sometimes'_

But otherwise Kenma doesn't question further and Tetsurou doesn't talk much more about it. He bothers Kenma about volleyball when he feels like discussing it with Oikawa, and Kenma responds with his usual dryness.

He's more used to that, but that doesn't stop him from missing Oikawa's,  _i will fight you if you say defense is more important than offense again_.

On a night when he's lying on his bed, playing with his handheld, his phone buzzes. Tetsurou drops his handheld on his face. It doesn't help when his phone continues buzzing.

"What the hell?" Tetsurou says, rolling over and looking at the screen.

_yuo asoshle_  
_asshoel_  
_ass_  
_hole_

The tongue emoji is almost mocking. Tetsurou should probably change it to Oikawa's actual name, at the least, if he's going to keep his number. He doubts Oikawa's going to delete him, though, and it would only be rubbing salt in the wound if Tetsurou sent an text asking who he was.

_you sont know sSHIT bout me_  
_dont_  
_shit t_  
_fuck_  
_youre not uspposed to be the h asol e_  
_we're bth th_  
_i don tknow hw y u rod ing this_

It's almost hypnotizing. Tetsurou does feel like an asshole, just watching Oikawa send these texts nonstop.

_miDN YUR OWN DAM N BISUSNNGS_  
_BUSINSS DONT TEL L ME YUO WANT WAHS BEST FOR ME_  
_I KNOW WHTS BEST FOR ME YOU ASSHO LE_

Tetsurou's grip tightens on his phone.

_you're drunk_

_my scioal life h s nothiNG to do w yuo_  
_yuo can t tell me   w hat to do_  
_fuckign_  
_kur_  
_kuroo_  
_you cant tl m wha t to do_  
_im not goin_  
_g to_  
_kuro?_  
_kuroo?_  
_are u ther_

▽▽▽

Tetsurou knows that a part of him is lying to himself, the part that refuses to talk or think about Oikawa, tries to pull back the reins without letting the thoughts go. It's not the part that misses what he got used to, but the moments like the wine in the living room and Oikawa riding his dick when Iwaizumi had almost interrupted, moments like Oikawa stopping asking Tetsurou to not talk about volleyball around him but instead going to the practices a little bit more often and giving Tetsurou and other players pointers as needed.

Thinking about it makes heat coil around Tetsurou, like the pain, like being there and not here. He tries not to dwell on it, and can spend most of his days with Oikawa's absence in the back of his mind; when he's alone at night like nothing else, the feeling spikes to the very front.

He twists his hands in his covers, can feel the empty space in his bed that Oikawa had lay on before. Undoubtedly Oikawa might've had the same experience at some point, even though they've spent more time in Tetsurou's bed than his. Tetsurou rolls over. He hasn't cleaned his sheets in a while and the smell is still strong.

Tetsurou's dick gets hard.

"Fuck," he whispers, because  _that's_  not supposed to happen. But it is, because he's fucked Oikawa in this bed, Oikawa's fingered him in this bed, they've sucked each other's dicks in this bed. He can remember what Oikawa had looked like, sounded like. His cock aches against the mattress.

He promises himself not to think about it when he's done, and slips his hand into his boxers, strokes himself off. He rubs the precome over the tip of his cock, imagining Oikawa licking at it. Pupils blown, hair messy—Tetsurou remembers the feeling of Oikawa's hair in his fingers. Oikawa's nimble and muscular all the same, easy to fuck and be fucked by—Tetsurou moves his other hand around, slides it between the crack of his ass. Oikawa likes to talk. He likes to moan, too, and Tetsurou imagines him whispering into his ear.

He comes and embarrassingly mutters, " _Oikawa_ ," and it works and doesn't feel as satisfying as Tetsurou's used to. He lies in bed and squeezes his eyes shut. With the smell, it's easy pretend Oikawa's still there.

▽▽▽

The last volleyball practice of the season is today; they have them regularly even though they had only won one official game for the university tournaments. Finals exams are next week, so they can't cut into the exam schedule.

Tetsurou grins at his teammates as the practice comes to an end. They all shake hands, and Tetsurou says, "Good work this season," to each one of them. Even as a first year in university, he's slipped in well, even though the volleyball intensity is drastically different. But, he supposes, with the rivals that Nekoma and Karasuno had been, that kind of passion is hard to beat.

As he walks out of the gym, he says goodbye to the coach, swinging his towel around. He doesn't watch where he's going, and bumps into someone.

"Oh! Sor—"

Oikawa stares at him, equally stunned. He settles his face into a scowl.

"Right," he says, "I was hoping I'd run into you."

Tetsurou doesn't give him the chance, tries to speed off as fast he can. Oikawa grabs onto his arm and says, "Stop it, why do you keep running away from me?'

"I said what I had to say." Tetsurou tries to pull away from him. "Let go of me."

"No." Oikawa stubbornly holds on. Tetsurou turns to glare at him. It doesn't throw him off. "I haven't said what I had to say yet."

"Really? Because your nonstop texting for the past  _weeks_  says otherwise."

Oikawa doesn't let up. "Do you realize what a fuckass you're being?" he says. "First of all, I don't need you to take care of me. And second, I know what's good for me, and that has  _nothing_  to do with you."

"Saying you can take care of yourself doesn't make it true, you know," says Tetsurou. He manages to yank his arm back, or maybe Oikawa lets him. "I do want to mind my own damn business, but as someone who cares about you—"

Oikawa laughs. Oikawa laughs, and when he looks at Tetsurou again, his eyes are watery.

"Say that again," he says. "Say that one more goddamn time—"

"You're bad for me, too."

As soon as it comes out, Tetsurou wishes he could take it back—but it makes Oikawa step away, and that's a good sign. Tetsurou continues.

"I make you distracted from your academics, and you made me feel like our relationship was only about sex." Wrong, wrong, wrong, but Oikawa's frown is turning deeper and deeper and Tetsurou wants to stop looking at him. "I liked the sex, but I've never had that type of relationship before—I didn't want to—"

"You could've told me," says Oikawa. "We talked about it before, and you could've told me, anytime—"

Tetsurou shakes his head, and that's a lie, too. "I liked being your friend, I liked us fucking, I didn't want both—you can't tell me that you would've stopped the sex if I told you to."

"I  _would_! I will," Oikawa says, and he's pleading. "I wouldn't force you into anything if you said no—"

"But I would. I would  _want_  to," says Tetsurou, and it sounds like his mind is away from his mouth, he's somewhere else, and he's saying words he's never thought before. "I can't do you, and I'm sure that not being with me is best for you, too—you can do a lot more without me."

"Kuroo," Oikawa starts.

Tetsurou ignores him and leaves. He walks two blocks, and then stops. He shoves his face in his towel. His hands are shaking.

▽▽▽

The final exams come and go and Tetsurou ends the year on a relatively high academic level. He's impressed with himself, procrastination notwithstanding.

Working at the cafe has gotten him a relative amount of pocket money, and when he'd gone out with Oikawa, Oikawa had paid more than half the time. Still, even with that extra money, Tetsurou figures it's best if he stays on campus for the spring. He calls his mom and tells her. She jokes about being lonely, but assures Tetsurou his freedom so as long as he thinks it's the best way.

Tetsurou stares at his phone after they hang up. After a moment, he opens up a new text message.

**_To: Iwaizumi Hajime_ **  
_hey, sorry to bother you about oikawa again!  
i was just wondering if you knew if he's going back for the spring_

_dont worry about it! he told me he wasnt_

Tetsurou's stomach sinks.

_really? Bc i'm not either..._

_oh, it has nothing to do with you  
i promise_

Oikawa was several blocks down during the school year. Now he will be during spring break, too. Tetsurou believes that Iwaizumi believes he's right; he's not sure if Iwaizumi's been told the truth, though.

Iwaizumi continues on with his texts.

_he got an internship at the uni hospital, thts why he's staying_

It would be weird to tell Iwaizumi congratulations, and even worse to tell him to tell Oikawa so. Tetsurou's fingers hover over his keypad.

_ah alright_

_Why are y staying?_

_make $$ at my job :^)_

_good plan_

_sorry all I ever seem to text u about is oikawa lol :^'(_

_its OK  
hes a lot to handle _

At least with an internship maybe Oikawa will take his words to heart. It probably won't be quite the same as volleyball, but he'll meet people. And Oikawa's good at persuading them to stick around when he wants them to.

▽▽▽

Since their conversation at the last volleyball practice, Oikawa hasn't texted him anymore. Tetsurou doesn't know if it's because he got through to him or because he scared him off, but either way. Oikawa works in a cycle, with an obsession and an attachment. Tetsurou wants him to break it for himself, or break it for him.

He and Iwaizumi start texting about things that aren't Oikawa, and Tetsurou finds out more about him: he was the ace spiker on the Aoba Jousai team, and for the past year has been working with his family instead of going to university. He catches bugs and has pictures of Oikawa when he went through his alien phase. Tetsurou makes him promise that if he goes to visit, regardless whether he and Oikawa start talking again, Iwaizumi will show him those pictures.

After the first week of spring break, where his days have settled into a routine of waking up for work and then staying up too late on the internet, he texts Kenma. Nekoma had made it to the top four for the Spring Highs this year, and they were apparently going to celebrate tonight.

_Come over here so we can celebrate properly! :^DDD_

_... okay_

Tetsurou sits up, excited.

_really???? :^D :^D :^D_

_i don't have anything else better to do_

That's definitely a half-lie, and Tetsurou swings his legs over his bed and scrambles out into the living room. As he starts cleaning off the table, he texts,

_do you want the couch or my bed? ;^)_

_stop it u creep. the couch.  
when should i come over?_

_tomorrow! i have no work ~_

_okay  
my mom says that i should look at ur school for a potential university_

_:D_

_stop_

The next day Tetsurou picks him up at the train station. Kenma's holding a duffle bag and in his Nekoma jersey and keeps darting his eyes around. Tetsurou slings his arm over Kenma's shoulder and says, "Chill, you're with me now."

"Not exactly the best method to get me to chill," Kenma says, but follows as Tetsurou leads them out.

They get back to his apartment, which Kenma has only seen during Skype calls and when Tetsurou sends him not so occasional pictures of himself. He sets his duffle bag down and puts his head in his hands. Tetsurou sniffs him.

"Don't tell me that's alcohol I smell," he says sternly.

Kenma stares up at him. "We were celebrating," he says, but his hangover had been pretty obvious since the train station.

Tetsurou goes into the kitchen and fixes him a glass of water. "I'll get you drunk tonight and show you how  _not_  to make it painful," he says.

Kenma drinks. "Maybe tomorrow night," he says, when he's done. "Karasuno was there. Shouyou and Tobio were competing."

Tetsurou says, "I bet they were."

▽▽▽

He and Kenma spend that evening playing on their respective handhelds—with how Kenma is sometimes, it could be a lot worse. The next day Kenma snoops around his apartment a little more, and finds his volleyball.

"So you were serious when you said you were continuing," he says.

He tosses it to Tetsurou, who catches it. "Of course," he says. "When am I not serious?"

Kenma pauses before asking.

"What was it like seeing Oikawa-san jump serve?"

Tetsurou remembers, remembers not even being nervous for how flawless Oikawa's initial stance had been.

"Fittingly legendary," he replies.

He and Kenma bounce the ball back and forth with each other. Kenma's gotten better in terms of physical fitness, possibly because of Shouyou egging him on so much. Tetsurou's glad he made him captain. Kenma hadn't said but Tetsurou could tell during the games he had gone to that the younger years love him.

They cut out for lunch a little after noon. On their way to the restaurant, they pass the university hospital. Tetsurou thinks briefly of going into visit.

"Kuroo?" Kenma says. Tetsurou blinks and realizes he had blatantly turned his head. "What's up?"

Tetsurou falls back into step with him, tries not to think of that serve again. Airs of concentration. If Oikawa would be able to apply that during his internship.

"Nothing," he says.

▽▽▽

Tetsurou teaches Kenma how to get drunk without getting a hangover. Kenma suggests it immediately the night after. Tetsurou laughs and says, "How long are you even staying?"

"Two weeks," says Kenma. "Potentially for university."

"What? I've convinced you already?"

"You've convinced me of nothing."

They're in the grocery store to get drinks and food for tonight. Kenma's eyeing the bottles, and Tetsurou rolls his eyes as he picks out bread and puts them into their shopping cart. He tells Kenma, "Don't pick out the more expensive stuff, I'm paying for all of this."

"I wasn't going to." Kenma turns back to his video game, not sounding very convincing

Eventually they go to check out. Tetsurou had bought the drinks, since he kept denying whatever Kenma suggested—"You're doing this on purpose," Kenma had accused, and Tetsurou had shot back with, "Or maybe you just have terrible taste." They walk out talking about the less romantic aspects of Tokyo nightlife, when Tetsurou feels something familiar pass by them, hesitates and then glances around.

In what looks like a new jacket and scrubs, Oikawa's walked right past them—he doesn't seem to have noticed. Tetsurou's sure if he had, he would've stopped or looked back, too. He must be on his way to work, Tetsurou figures, since the hospital's in the direction he's going and his apartment's the other end—distantly, that want to say hello bubbles in his throat again and he pushes it down, genuinely wondering what Oikawa's been up to. He's not walking with anyone and doesn't look any more or less cheerful than average. Tetsurou wants to know what his interning is like.

"Kuroo?"

Kenma's paused, too, looks up at him. Tetsurou shakes his head and blinks. He grins down at Kenma.

"We're all right here," he says. "Let's get going."

▽▽▽

This year's break feels shorter than it has before, but Tetsurou figures it's because he's in university and working all the damn time. With money on his mind half the time, he keeps track of the hours he works so that it stacks up for him to pay for his rent, while his scholarship helps him come April. It's not as easy as it was while he was at Nekoma, but Tetsurou figures that with his job it lessens the pressure a little more than otherwise.

Kenma leaves after his two-week stay. As he goes to the train station, he says, "I can't believe we spent half the time just in your apartment."

"Hey." Tetsurou shrugs. "If you wanted me to show you around, I could've."

Kenma observes him for a moment. "Not particularly," he says, and then leaves to his platform. "Bye, Kuroo."

"Get home safe."

Tetsurou gives him a smirk and waves, and Kenma nods in response. They part, and as soon as he's gone, Tetsurou texts him,  _& if u decide to come here and need a place to stay, ill always have room ;^*_

_living with you sounds like a terrible idea  
but thanks_

Vacation continues on; White Day comes and passes, reminding Tetsurou that there are still high schools in the area. Soon enough it's the end of March, and one of his coworkers invites him out to drink. Tetsurou accepts, because they'd offered to pay, and Tetsurou can't say no to that.

His coworker, like some sort of joke in the universe, picks the bar that Tetsurou has gone to the most often—his and Oikawa's bar, he thinks of it as, before stopping his brain from going any further. They walk in without pretense, Tetsurou's hands shoved in his pockets, looking to get a little less than smashed.

It's busy already: but it's a weekend night, so hardly a surprise. Tetsurou and his coworker go over to order drinks. Tetsurou sits himself down at a stool.

Almost as soon as his coworker comes back with two tall glasses in hand, someone almost knocks them over—a second later and Oikawa's lifting himself up, drunkenly laughing and saying, "Sorry—"

He catches sight of Tetsurou. His laugh gets even louder. Tetsurou's insides hollow out.

"Hey." He nods to Tetsurou's coworker. "You're with him?" He points to Tetsurou, and hesitantly, his coworker nods.

"Well, you're hanging out with a  _fucking asshole_."

Oikawa leans in so he's inches from Tetsurou's face. His breath smells, and Tetsurou stares right past him.

"Look at this guy," Oikawa hollers. He points him out to everyone else around them.

This was probably a bad idea.

"You're just sitting here like you didn't do anything." Oikawa laughs again, and shoves Tetsurou's shoulders. "Huh, you asshole? You know what you did, right? About how apparently our whole friendship was a joke?"

"Kuroo-san?" asks his coworker. "Do you know this guy?"

Tetsurou shrugs. He doesn't want to see what's in Oikawa's eyes, so he says, "Let's find a table," and his coworker nods, probably in hopes that Oikawa will leave them alone.

He doesn't, just trails behind them and says, "Oh, you're not getting away that easily. You can't let me go easy, either. Seriously," he says to Tetsurou's coworker, who tries to shy away, "why are you hanging out with this guy? You can do so much better. All of us can do so much better."

"Oikawa—" Tetsurou tries to shove him away. "Don't bother him, you're drunk, just—"

"Hey everyone!" Oikawa shouts to the whole bar. Not everyone pays him mind, but enough do to make Tetsurou shift in his seat. "Look at this asshole! Kuroo Tetsurou is—"

Tetsurou nudges him in hopes it'll distract him and knock him down. A second later, and he narrowly misses a swing at his face, Oikawa's lips curled in fury, forehead sweaty, mouth open and reeking. Oikawa tries to aim again but Tetsurou's faster and sober and ducks himself down closer to the table.

His coworker shrieks, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Tetsurou assures.

A few people from the bar have come to try to hold Oikawa back. Oikawa shouts, "You don't know shit!  _You don't know shit_ about me, god, showing your face in here like that, don't  _ever_  look at me again—"

He's lying and Tetsurou knows he's lying and Tetsurou can only watch as he gets dragged away, the bartender telling him he'll get kicked out if he continues like that.

Tetsurou catches his breath and breathes and tries to find words for this.

▽▽▽

The school year starts again. Tetsurou gets a promotion at his work to assistant manager even though he's almost completely useless with making drinks, and everyone either congratulates him out of sincerity or jealousy. The ones who are closer to him keep trying to teach him how to work the drink machines, but two spilled cups and a broken coffee pot later, everyone decides it's a better idea to keep him from the barista counter.

His classes, in terms of workload, turn out to be not much different from last semester. He does have to set an alarm to trudge out bed for early morning lectures every other day, but those are the days he works the most. When he's not up in the a.m., he's passed out until past noon from a previous night's worth on an MMORPG.

What doesn't remain consistent is the volleyball team this year. They get an influx of newcomers, both first years and students Tetsurou's seen before, at the first practice. Their coach is surprised at how many had signed up, and jokes, "Maybe we'll actually need to have tryouts this semester."

They don't make twelve, but they do make eleven, and none of the new players slack off, either. Tetsurou watches as they serve, set, and spike, and joins their coach on the bench to see what they're made of.

"I guess university volleyball's bound to make a comeback," the coach comments. Tetsurou chuckles.

"Might be because of all the high school excitement," he says.

"It might."

They're not stellar players, but it's something. Tetsurou has his arms crossed, observes the smaller details about how sometimes they use a little too much force when they float serve, or receive at a bad angle. He shouts out a suggestion to one of them when they set too far for a spiker to watch where the spiker goes. The setter nods in thanks.

The coach says, "It's a good thing we have you around, Kuroo. If we had captains, I'd make you one."

Tetsurou waves his comment aside. "Maybe when university volleyball  _does_  come back in a couple of years," he says, and his coach laughs.

"It's very possible," he says. "Did you know, apparently there's a legendary volleyball player who's at this school? I can't remember his name right, but people have told me, and said they're surprised he's not on our team."

Tetsurou nods then, unfolds his arms. "Yeah," he says, before heading back out onto the court, ignoring the tingling over his skin like some sort of bad itch.

He calls for a practice game and they divide up pretty quickly. Tetsurou switches some around so that they're more even. As they begin to play, one of the members from Tetsurou side asks him,

"Um, Kuroo-san, do you know when our first game is?"

Dates like that are tacked on the gym door, but Tetsurou wouldn't be surprised if he's the only one who checks them. "Three weekends from the next," he replies.

"Thanks! I'm going to tell my parents, they'll love to watch me play..."

▽▽▽

There are spring festivals, which Tetsurou goes to with his friends. There are early semester exams, which he and his classmates complain about together. He texts Kenma, who's decided to go somewhere else a little bit closer to the Miyagi prefecture,  _so are you seeing shorty-kun every day or what_

_or what_

_very funny :P_

But Tetsurou doesn't mind so terribly that Kenma would rather be farther away, even though he insists that he picked the university without the geography in mind. This had been during a Skype call, and Tetsurou had laughed and said, okay, and pointed out Kenma's pink cheeks.

He, unsurprisingly, needs to take the bus to get to four classes this semester, and the inter-city train for another three. It's not inconvenient, just annoying, and he jogs out just before the train doors are closing, huffing under his breath, "I'm here, I'm here."

He jostles around and does his best not to step on people's toes, catching his breath as he makes his way through the car. There aren't any open seats, but there's a workable open spot where he can hold onto a pole, so Tetsurou takes that.

The train starts up, stops again. Tetsurou watches the signs for his own stop. The crowd bustles in and out; when someone's shoulder collides with his, he automatically says, "Excuse me—"

Oikawa glances up. Tetsurou freezes, even though it makes perfect sense because he and Oikawa go to the same school, and even though it's not last semester, it doesn't mean that they won't be on the train again, at the same time. Oikawa's eyes widen, too, but he brushes right past and takes the open seat next to Tetsurou. Tetsurou would think it's on purpose, except there isn't anywhere else that's available.

He does his best to pretend that Oikawa's not there, the presence like a sudden weight pressed to Tetsurou's side. It's his stop a few afterwards, and he rushes out while trying to make it not seem obvious that he is.

As soon as he's out, he leans against the nearby pillar, panting. He's not out of breath like he had when he was trying to catch the train, but—

"Shit," Tetsurou mutters under his breath, almost wants to laugh like the world has played a cruel joke on him. He's hard, he's hard and his waist is hot and there's something in his throat that feels like he's pushing something back. When he opens his mouth and takes a deep breath, it's tears—Tetsurou inhales quickly. This isn't the time and place for that.

He wants to get on the next train and go back home.

But no, he thinks, because Oikawa could be on that train too, he could see him like this, and Tetsurou—he manages himself up, and starts towards class. He waits for his boner and the feeling to dissipate, wishes he could do the same with all his memories of Oikawa.

▽▽▽

_shit_

Tetsurou checks his phone. It's regular that Iwaizumi texts him with a bad joke every now and then, for Tetsurou to come up with another one. This doesn't sound like a joke, though.

A second later he gets a text from someone else.

_are you fucking kidding me?_

Iwaizumi's text is almost immediate afterwards.

_i forgot that you didnt tell Oikawa that I have ur number  
fuck_

"Shit," Tetsurou echoes, as Oikawa's texts come barreling between his.

 _when the fuck did you get iwachans number??_  
what the FUCK kuroo  
what the hell are you talking to hajime for ??? mind ur own damn business  
holy fuck ing shit i cant believe you

Tetsurou tries to ignore them, and texts Iwaizumi back.

_it's okay, he was bound to find out at some point_

_i guess, but  
sorry_

_don't worry about it_

But Oikawa's texts are more persistent, even though Iwaizumi's apologies have stopped.

 _what did he tell you_  
what did YOu tell him  
did he say something to make you do this to me??? Im going to kick both of ur asses

_he didn't say anything, i made the decision all by myself_

Tetsurou bites his bottom lip until it hurts. The tone when Oikawa texts cuts like a knife. Tetsurou puts it on vibrate.

 _bullshit_  
what did u say to him  
this isnt fair NEITHER OF YOU ARE FAIR

Tetsurou switches back to his conversation with Iwaizumi.

 _sorry_  
if he's bothering you  
i didn't think talking to you would be a strain on your relationship

_Its fine, this isnt ur fault either_

Oikawa's text interrupts them.

_SAY SOMETHING DAMMIT  
IM SHAKING IM SO ANGRY_

Tetsurou can imagine it, doesn't know why he imagines it, Oikawa in a corner of his living room, fingers and wrists shaking, tears springing from his eyes. It's a cruel image to even think of and Tetsurou squeezes his eyes shut, glued to his dining room chair.

_i just wanted to ask iwaizumi a few things about you  
that's all, okay?_

_thats all? that's nOT fuckign okay, how tf did u get his number  
what did u ask abt me what did h e say_

_we talked about how youre clingy and dependent. there._

Tetsurou waits. It's gotten oddly silent on both ends. He wonders what Iwaizumi and Oikawa have been texting about. Iwaizumi seems to be fine, only apologetic to Tetsurou. His insides feel heavy, like maybe he shouldn't have nabbed Iwaizumi's number in the first place.

Finally, Oikawa texts back.

_iwa chan said that about me?_

_he agrees that it's a consistent bad habit_

He deliberates, and then adds:

_you didn't tell him what you're studying_

Then after another beat:

_sorry for stealing his number from your phone_

Oikawa doesn't say anything in response. Tetsurou concludes that he must be finished with this conversation, and returns to his messages from Iwaizumi.

_how are things on your end?_

_he stopped talking to me when I told him that I thought what you and me talked about was a good idea  
I dont know whats going on_

▽▽▽

He doesn't hear anything from either of them for a good week. Tetsurou decides not to linger on it. A few times he rereads the conversations, but he and Iwaizumi seem to be in the clear, and he doesn't take back anything he said to Oikawa. It's always hard to tell what Oikawa wants when he yells at Tetsurou; Tetsurou's sure that if he apologized and started talking to him in any of those very seconds, Oikawa wouldn't be the type to let him so easily. Oikawa would probably make him grovel, hold a grudge against him for weeks if his libido could last that long.

Otherwise Tetsurou continues like the conversation hadn't happened, making sure to keep an eye out for Oikawa on trains and buses and sliding out of the way if he manages to catch a glimpse of him. Oikawa, at least, doesn't notice him when he does this, usually listening to music or facing a different direction.

At the cusp of April, he begins asking his classmates for notes on lectures he's missed, copying them into his own notebook. One evening he's catching himself up when his phone blares a warning bell—what Tetsurou's customized, so he doesn't get so thrown off at times like these.

He puts his pencil down and turns on his phone.

_i miss you i y uo  
i bet u miss me too_

Tetsurou's fingers hover, but then a third text comes in.

_miss my cock mis my ass godda m_  
_I know u miss me so much don te ven say u dont_  
_have You been getting laid recent ly ??? ;)))_  
_i wont say anytihgn about mysl ; '0)0_

The rude thought of sending Oikawa a text along the lines of  _getting laid requires you to go out and meet people_  passes through Tetsurou's mind, but he dismisses it.

_i miss your dic k so much oly ishti_  
_your dick was s god_  
_take care of it for me, will y uo?_  
_i do nto care ui f oyu were talking to hajimge_  
_it do esn t mayter_  
_shit youre s o ht o to_  
_godn i want ou do fuck me oagain, fcuk me so bad_  
_pl eas ep ls p laeas_  
_kuroo ar u there/ ? are u readihgn thi s_

Tetsurou's mind and fingers feel so separate from each other. He's lying on his stomach on his bed and his cock is twitching at Oikawa's texts. There's no way he's sending these sober. But Tetsurou refuses to touch himself, too, like it might be giving into what Oikawa wants even though there's no way he'd know.

_kur o please tlel me u mis s me t oo_  
_i could jr k it to that i coul dje rk i it to whatpptvrer u siad_  
_please_

He wants to know if he's getting drunk by himself, or in public. If Oikawa's tipsy and horny in the middle of a restaurant. Tetsurou thinks of Oikawa going into a stall and getting himself off, breathing heavily in the dark.

His dick twitches in interest again.

Oikawa doesn't stop texting him.

_ts been so long i mis s th e sex_  
_can we just nt tlak and hav sx_  
_no i d n t want_  
_that_  
_adn u woudl tn_  
_would  nt want tht_  
_either_  
_sorry_

Tetsurou's elbow is on his notes and smudging them and he doesn't care.

_sor ry sorry s_  
_holy s hit_  
_holy shit i s en tu so many texts_  
_fuck_  
_sorry_  
_this wasn t koay im realy_  
_god_  
_fcuk_  
_sorry_  
_i di dnt mean to_  
_im o s creep y im so aos ry_

He blinks.

_this wasn t_  
_i wsn try ong to_  
_i m really_  
_im drunk_  
_that doesn t make it o ok ah fuck ig_  
_fuck_

Tetsurou shuts his phone off and puts it face down on his bed. He tries to go back to his notes. His cock aches between his legs. He doesn't want to see if Oikawa's kept texting him or not. His throat feels like stone.

▽▽▽

The night goes on with Tetsurou wondering if he should text Oikawa back, will Oikawa think he saw the texts, what to do about the fact that Tetsurou doesn't know how long Oikawa has been thinking this way and what if he's been jerking off to the thought of Tetsurou every night, what if he thinks about the times they've fucked, too, what if he fingers himself pretending it's Tetsurou the same way Tetsurou had that one time. His face flames in embarrassment and he stuffs his face in the pillow, even though it's dark.

It's harder to pretend that he doesn't think about Oikawa when he does, he knows he does. Even trying not to counts, and it's hard to genuinely focus on something else without Oikawa on his mind.

He and Iwaizumi's conversations don't always come back to Oikawa, but quite a bit start there.

_hes been talking to me a lot more than before_  
_talking about how much he hates u_  
_im sure youve figured_

_you don't want me to get back with him, do you??_

_i mean its unhealthy that hes grown dependent on me_  
_but its unhealthy if he has u to be dependent on too_  
_i think since u know what hes been like nowadays_  
_more_  
_ur decision is valid_

_i mean the only reason we became friends was b/c i was annoying and he said i was hot_  
_more or less_

_i can believe that :/_  
_The difficult thing is that the only way to deal w oikawas stubbornness is to be stubborn urself_  
_Which doesn't always end in the best way_

_do u have oikawa horror stories about this u would like to share B^0_

_too many_

They defer off to childhood best friends and Tetsurou talks about how the only way he got Kenma to make other friends was to have him join the volleyball team, but Oikawa's already rejected that and they didn't have any classes together so it's not like Tetsurou can do that again. Iwaizumi asks about the Nekoma volleyball team and then Tetsurou says all the stuff about keeping the blood flowing and then they get very off-track with captains (and co-captain) woes.

Oikawa isn't someone you can let yourself forget about. Trying harder, though, and Tetsurou finds himself thinking about the smaller corners they'd been in. If it'd be easier if he'd stopped at a sooner or later time. If he'd done or said something other than just  _being there_  that made Oikawa the way he is. Tetsurou knows that it's a character trait rather than something he can blame on himself, but being with Oikawa at perhaps the wrong place and the wrong time is what led to this wrong-feeling absence that Tetsurou knows is right.

He eats at the place where he and Oikawa had fought, had stopped. It's strange sitting in a different booth facing the side Oikawa had. Perhaps there's something that Oikawa had seen that Tetsurou had missed, to make Oikawa think it's okay. He should know how he doesn't make friends and clings to anyone who gives him a time of day after enough time, shouldn't he? Oikawa's self-aware. At least, he's very aware on the outside.

Tetsurou eats his lunch, stares into space. Perhaps they're not so much at the wrong place at the wrong time. Oikawa had been company enough, like his other friends. He'd been a little more, with the sex.

Yet something burns, a knot in Tetsurou's chest, when he stops thinking about the sex and Oikawa talking about being alone.

It flares.

Tetsurou almost chokes.

If someone had told Tetsurou last year that he would fall in love with Oikawa Tooru in his first year of university, he wouldn't have believed it. But it hurts, and seeing it now, Tetsurou almost wants to sob over his ramen noodles. He doesn't know why he hadn't pinpointed it before. Somewhere along the time of them getting to know each other and having sex, it would've been inaccurate to say Tetsurou had become obsessed. But he doesn't know when the feelings started.

A waitress comes over and asks, "Too spicy?"

Tetsurou shakes his head and feels like an idiot. He doesn't know if he hates himself for taking this long to realize—otherwise he wouldn't have wanted to let go of Oikawa at all. It's not the best for either of them, but.

But Oikawa's gone and needs to stay that way, at least until Tetsurou can trust him to expand himself outside of schoolwork and the place Tetsurou had once been in. He can live with the heartache. He's pretty sure Oikawa wasn't built to be lovable, anyway.

▽▽▽

He pockets the thought away, because it's not like Tetsurou gives Oikawa any updates, anyway. The revelation doesn't affect the way he goes to classes or comes in for work. But just sometimes when Tetsurou can't go to sleep or needs something to masturbate to, the flashes of Oikawa now make a lot more sense.

Tetsurou can't remember the number of times he's asked a few of his coworkers to cover him when he's running late. Come a few days later when one of them asks him to go early for them, he agrees without protest. His regular shift is a little later in the afternoon, but today waking up not so bright but still earlier is easier, and Tetsurou ties his apron around his waist without any of the usual rush.

The door jingles, and people bustle in and out. The better thing about earlier shifts is that even if it's around the regular breakfast rush, it's still not busy—Tetsurou knows a few of his friends who have one or two classes in the middle of the day so even during the weekday, they can get drunk. He hums to himself and tends to the customers. At least this way with the extra hours, he gets more money and a break.

His coworker tells a joke, and he laughs; when he turns to the customer in front of him, he stops.

Oikawa's stopped, too.

"I thought you didn't—" he says.

Tetsurou explains, "I'm covering for someone," and then, "What are you doing here?"

It's weird to see Oikawa's lips curl in genuine amusement. "Contrary to popular belief," he says, "I do enjoy the drinks here, despite—"

He cuts himself off again. Tetsurou watches, but Oikawa seems to be done.

Tetsurou holds back a sigh.

"What can I get for you?"

Oikawa orders and Tetsurou puts it in the system. He makes a point to stare more at the cash register, instead of glancing toward Oikawa at all. Oikawa's fumbling with his wallet, but Tetsurou doesn't feel his eyes on him, either.

The print machine takes forever to get Oikawa's receipt. Tetsurou taps his fingers patiently.

Oikawa blurts out,

"I'm sorry."

Tetsurou has to tear his eyes away. He glances at Oikawa, who's noticeably biting his tongue.

He continues on.

"For the texts," he says. "That night, I didn't—"

His receipt prints. Tetsurou takes it out and hands it to him.

"Here you are," he says.

"Kuroo, I," says Oikawa. "That was— It was a mistake. It was highly inappropriate of me, and—"

Tetsurou waves his hand. He doesn't look at Oikawa. "Don't worry about it," he says, staring at the container of coffee beans on the counter.

He feels Oikawa's gaze linger, and then the barista gets him his drink. Tetsurou returns to his spot behind the cash register. He tries not to watch as Oikawa walks out.

▽▽▽

Then it's the weekend of the volleyball game and starting from the morning, Tetsurou's busy—all the new members are so excited and it spikes the adrenaline in his system. At the same time Tetsurou has to, at the very last minute, make sure that they have jerseys for all the new members and then the jackets. When he counts at first he's sure that they're one short, but everyone gets a jacket and Tetsurou decides not to linger on whatever math mistake he just made.

The volleyball match is deeper in the city, close to Tokyo Tower that Kenma texts him that he and Shorty-kun are actually coming to watch as well, even though Shorty-kun's a third year in high school and has his own volleyball practices to attend. An hour later Kenma texts him with the update that Kageyama Tobio has, apparently, insisted to come along as well. Tetsurou laughs at the annoyed tone in his text.

The newer team members are buzzing, sending the energy to even the jaded older members. "We're gonna win this game!" shouts one.

"Yeah!"

"We're going to win more than one game this season," Tetsurou puts in, and they laugh and their coach playfully hits him on the shoulder.

Everyone helps load the bus with first aid equipment and other last minute stuff. The game's late in the day so they're not in a rush to leave until noon. It's bright and Tetsurou feels good about tonight. It's going to be an excellent game. One of the members receives so well that he reminds Tetsurou of Morisuke, and another has such big and wild hair that could put Taketora's to shame (or envy.)

He helps with the last of the equipment. As he's talking with one of his teammates, someone says, "Kuroo," and it's not someone from the volleyball team.

Tetsurou blinks at the sight of Oikawa in front of him.

"Hey," he says, out of habit. He clears his throat, "What are you doing here?"

"Er." Oikawa's glancing around, like he's never done this before. "Good luck," he says, and Tetsurou wouldn't be surprised if this were Oikawa's first time genuinely saying this.

Despite himself, he feels stupid at the thought, and smiles. "Thanks," he says, and heads towards the bus.

Oikawa doesn't follow him. When Tetsurou turns around, though, he sees that Oikawa's still there. He looks like he wants to say something else, but when he opens his mouth, nothing comes out.

The coach calls, "Kuroo-kun! Ready to leave?"

Oikawa turns to him. Tetsurou doesn't remove his eyes from Oikawa as he replies, "Hold on!" and then he tells Oikawa, "I want to talk later."

It's like his mouth had moved of its own accord. If Tetsurou could, he would look at himself funny. Oikawa's eyes widen like he can't believe it either.

"Are you," he starts, and then, "Really?"

"I'm."

Tetsurou hesitates. It's hard to say if anything good will come if he and Oikawa talk. But having Oikawa here like this—out of his element, even though they're about to go to a volleyball game—and Tetsurou's heart twinges. Oikawa doesn't look hopeful, but he's stopped like it's taking a long time for Tetsurou's words to actually trigger an emotion. It's possible that he might cry. Tetsurou wouldn't put it past him.

"I'm sure," he says, and this feels right, too. The way Oikawa's face doesn't break into a smile, but there's something there, like he trusts Tetsurou too even though it's been a long time.

"Right," Oikawa says.

One of Tetsurou's classmates yells, from an open window, "We're about to leave, Kuroo-senpai!"

"Yeah," Tetsurou shouts back. He starts away, finally tears his gaze from Oikawa. He's sure that he sees the corners of his mouth lift a little bit more at the  _senpai_.

▽▽▽

They win, more or less, and the other team is strong and it makes the air around their team thrum even more. Tetsurou feels it again, what wasn't there last year—moving on the same wavelength, looking at the same goal on the other side of the net. When they score their last point, they cheer and run and almost collapse into each other.

The other team shakes their hands good-naturedly, talks about looking forward to playing against them again. The faces of Tetsurou's teammates are of those who've never had sports rivals before, and Tetsurou grins to himself.

Nekoma was a formative influence, but Tetsurou has no doubt that university volleyball will be just as blood pumping. Kenma had texted earlier that there was a volleyball practice tonight at his own school so he and the Karasuno kids had to cancel. He had sounded like he wanted to play Tetsurou's school. Tetsurou will give him time.

As he follows them getting back to the van, one of his teammates comes up to him and shouts, "Kuroo-san! That was  _awesome_!"

"It was," Tetsurou agrees, grins fondly as his teammate races to the bus, hollering and jumping on the others.

The coach joins him in straggling behind, says, "It brings you back to old memories, doesn't it?"

"We're making new memories," Tetsurou points out.

His coach laughs and pats Tetsurou on the arm.

"You're right about that," he says. "Thank you, Kuroo, for looking out for these kids. Our next game will undoubtedly be even better."

They walk towards the bus. University volleyball games are more casual than they are competitive, save for the intercollegiate tournament they're aiming to compete in this year. Last year they hadn't been good enough for even Tetsurou to consider; but with these new kids and a discovered energy, nothing's stopping them from entering now.

As he gets on the bus and congratulates his teammates, his phone buzzes in his pocket. He ignores it until he gets to his seat, and then, in the middle of laughing at something the kid in front of him said, pulls it out.

 **_From: Iwaizumi Hajime  
_ ** _how did it go????_

_AWSOME  
we won it was amazingggggg_

_#killedit_

Someone lobs a volleyball at Tetsurou's head. He looks up and says. "Hey! You're going to mess up my beautiful hair!"

"Your hair's always messed up," says someone, and they laugh again. Pride swells in Tetsurou's chest. He picks up the volleyball and tosses it at the one who had made the comment about his hair. The ball gets caught, and Tetsurou burns with fondness even more.

The bus ride back feels quicker, and someone suggests that the night's still young and they should go out drinking to celebrate. Everyone agrees as Tetsurou puts his phone away. Even their coach doesn't seem to mind, not saying a thing when the team member next to him lists off some nightclubs they can go to. Eventually they come to a decision, and so a group of university students clad in their volleyball uniforms get dropped off at a nightclub at ten in the evening, and their coach says goodbye.

Tetsurou buys a round of drinks for everyone and they all chant, "Thank you, Kuroo-senpai!"

Tetsurou grins and lifts up his glass.

"To our victory!"

Everybody downs their drinks, but that's the last of them staying together for the night. Others start drinking more while a good portion of them go toward the dance floor. Tetsurou watches for at least a half an hour, drinking slowly, until one of them calls him a "boring old man" and Tetsurou slams his drink down and shouts, "I'll show you boring!"

He doesn't get home until well past one in the morning, tired and spent out—even though it's not like his only other time at a nightclub, he smiles as he collapses into bed. He rolls over to his side and checks his phone: there are a few new messages.

_Hey, congrats on winning!  
im sure u led everyone to kick ass_

_when r u getting back?_

_Idk if u got my texts from earlier but i heard u won  
you should teach me some of ur skills ;P_

Tetsurou groans and his fingers hover above the keyboard. But it's late; there's no way Oikawa's still awake. He shoves his phone under his pillow and thinks about today's match, grins to himself. The texts can wait until the morning.

▽▽▽

Tetsurou hums as he walks around his apartment, making breakfast and dicking around on his computer. It's pretty late in the morning, but he's surprised when he gets a text from Kenma.

_so how did yesterday's match go?_

_aw, you care_

_answer the question, u dick_

Tetsurou grins and sets his glass of water down.

_you know we destroyedddddd BOOYAH_

_thanks_

_your enthusiasm is always appreciated. how did practice w ur team go?_

He talks for Kenma for a good portion of the day, sympathizing with his woes when Kenma complains that his school's team is too aggressive. Tetsurou tells him that he should help out, anyway; no way is he going to let Kenma go back to the hole of solitude he was in before.  _u can change them like u changed nekoma :^D_ , he tells Kenma, and Kenma seems to take Tetsurou's comment to heart. It's no surprise.

Lunchtime comes and goes before Tetsurou realizes both how incredibly hungry and incredibly lazy he is. He orders some food while still texting Kenma, and waits in his living room for it to arrive.

Kenma tells him,  _shouyous coming ovr to visit_ , when Tetsurou gets another text notification, appearing at the top of his phone screen.

_hey, did you still want to talk?_

Tetsurou hesitates.

Kenma sends another text.

_tobios coming too  
apparently_

_did he ask u?_

_well_  
yeah  
imean, its not like my saying no would stop him from coming

Tetsurou rolls his eyes, and then switches out of his conversation with Kenma. He stares at Oikawa's text a little longer, and then responds.

_oh yeah, of course!_

He waits, eyes reading over his text for several minutes, expecting some sort of instantaneous reply or otherwise. When Kenma texts him again, he puts it off for another minute. Then he goes back to Kenma.

_tobios ok, just... weird_

_kenma ur weird  
how can u say that about a fellow setter_

_oh my god shut_  
_hes weird in a different way_  
_sometimes i cant rmbr if he hates me or not_

_ofc he doesnt! ur very lovable :*_

_coming from you, thats not very reliable_

_what's that supposed to mean?_

His lunch arrives and Tetsurou eats. It's definitely one of those days where nothing's going to get done, anyway, so he multitasks from his computer to his phone, in a steady rhythm.

Night falls and Tetsurou checks his conversation with Oikawa again, to make sure he'd sent that text from before. Nothing's come, but his message did get delivered. Tetsurou frowns. It wouldn't be like Oikawa to let his phone die easily, and even then, to not have charged it and turned it back on by now. Tetsurou thinks of sending another message asking if Oikawa's okay. But he decides against it.

▽▽▽

The next day is Monday and Tetsurou reluctantly gets up for class, dozes off in lecture. He's not even tired but he can very well sleep. He thinks of having volleyball practices this week, and his insides jolt. They've long ago scheduled them more than once a week this semester—with after the game, there's no doubt that a few of them will ask to have practices every day. Tetsurou can handle the moaning and groaning and imagines they'll be up for it when he tells them that that's what his high school days were like.

He finishes his morning classes and gets lunch before going to work. He spent quite a bit over the weekend, but a meal isn't worth the walk back to his apartment. Tetsurou settles on a restaurant he's been to before, and waits after he's been seated to order his drink.

His phone vibrates in his bag just as he sets it down. Tetsurou takes it out.

_sorry for not replying yesterday_

Well, it's better than radio silence. Tetsurou didn't want to prepare himself to be disappointed, is glad that it's less than twenty-four hours now that Oikawa's getting back to him.

_it's cool  
u still on for talking too?_

_yea_

The waiter asks him what he wants to drink, and Tetsurou orders a soda. He tries to think of what to say to Oikawa next. The tongue emoji looks too casual for the place they're at now.

His phone vibrates before he gets a chance to respond.

_are you angry? sorry_

_i said its cool!_  
_not everyone has the time to cater to my every whims_  
_:^P_

_not that, when u  
last semester_

Tetsurou cringes. It'd been so long ago, but at the same time he doesn't recall any wave of anger passing through him when he told Oikawa he wanted what was good for him, when he accused Oikawa of making their friendship uncomfortable for him, too. When Oikawa had yelled at him in the bar, had sent him the drunk sexual texts. Tetsurou's insides drop because all of it points back to the way his chest tightens when he thinks of Oikawa, smiles and backhanded compliments he hasn't heard in ages.

_no, but i don't think this is something we should talk about over text_

_ah  
tru e_

Oikawa doesn't send anything after that. Tetsurou wonders where he is, if he's in a restaurant on the other side of campus, sitting at a booth, waiting for Tetsurou's texts, too. He could be at home, lounging on his couch, among his sea of notes, too distracted by his phone. Maybe he's in class and has his phone in his lap.

Tetsurou stays in the conversation.

_do you want to meet up tmrw? so we can talk_

The reply isn't immediate, but it's something.

_yeah, lets_

▽▽▽

Tetsurou easily could've picked this evening, after work, when the night's a little higher with emotion and the exhaustion could push the proper words out. But he doubts that Oikawa's in a state where such a direct confrontation would be a good idea less than twelve hours in advance. Plus, Tetsurou doesn't put it past himself to pass out even if it's in the middle of Oikawa shouting at him.

The morning after he absently grasps for his phone on the other side of the bed, eyes half-closed still. After jerking off to the thought of Oikawa last night, it's not particularly like he should expect anything less than waking up with Oikawa at the forefront of his mind.

Oikawa's last text from early yesterday afternoon stares down at him. Tetsurou blearily types out a message.

_are you busy this morning?_

Oikawa's text unexpectedly comes less than a minute later.

_not particularly  
time to talk?_

_if ur up for it_

_alright  
should i come over?_

Tetsurou supposes if he's going to see Oikawa soon, he should probably dress himself up in something a little more presentable. Or he could just wear his boxers. At least with that there's a slight guarantee that their conversation would go well.

He debates against it and shucks on a button up and some jeans. Afterwards, he returns to his phone.

_sure, whenever your ready_

_im pretty ready  
see you soon_

Tetsurou glances at the clock. It's eight in the morning. Either Oikawa didn't get any sleep, or has a very early morning class. It's probably not an appropriate time to figure out which one it is.

_oh yeah, u still live in the same place right?_

_ye_

Tetsurou walks out of his bedroom and jitters his legs. He goes to the kitchen and whips up something small to eat. He's never bitten his nails before but now he can see where the habit might come from. He shoves his breakfast in his mouth to keep it busy, walks around to keep his legs busy.

When there's a knock at the door, Tetsurou paces himself before he goes to open it. Oikawa's on the other side, maybe taller or shorter than Tetsurou remembers. When he smiles it looks tired.

"Hi," he says.

Tetsurou steps aside to let him in.

"Hi."

Oikawa jostles his hands in his pockets. Distantly Tetsurou wonders if Oikawa regularly does this, or if it's a habit he picked up from Tetsurou long ago.

He internally shakes himself. What a silly thought.

Oikawa chuckles as he enters. "Not much has changed," he observes, looking around.

Tetsurou shrugs. He closes the door.

"You know me."

Oikawa leans against the back of Tetsurou's couch. He stills his face so his lips are flat and his eyes are patient. He watches Tetsurou expectantly.

Tetsurou responds the same, his arms folded and back resting against one of his dining room chairs.

Finally, Oikawa sighs. He turns to the ground; he starts blinking too fast.

"Sorry," he says, and his voice is wet. "I'm—being ridiculous."

He straightens a little bit. His arms are crossed over his chest, but more in that he's trying to hold himself from slipping off the back of Tetsurou's couch.

"Iwa-chan told me he thought what you were doing was good," he says. "Better," he clarifies, and meets Tetsurou's eyes. "You have a point, saying that I'm—" He takes a deep breath. "I repeat myself. I don't change easily."

Tetsurou waits.

"I don't," Oikawa brings his gaze up again. "I don't regret having you, as a—whatever we were before," he says, and Tetsurou's stomach lurches, and he tries not to give himself away, too obviously.

"I liked that," Oikawa says. "But it's not—"

He licks his lips.

"I didn't believe you when you told me that I was bad for you," he says. "And when you said you wouldn't come back. Because you did." He smiles bitterly to himself. "But I—don't deserve it."

Tetsurou pushes back a noise in his throat. He doesn't know what it is, but it feels like it's trying to come full force, like a tidal wave. Oikawa's staring at the ground again, and his breaths come out in little sighs faster than usual.

"We were fine," he says. "But I was not—I haven't been able to get myself out of—" His voice breaks and his eyes get harder, like he's trying to burn a hole in Tetsurou's apartment floor.

"I need to stop this," he whispers to himself. "I need to stop being so—damned— _pathetic_."

Tetsurou could go over, could lift himself from the meters feeling like kilometers away from Oikawa, could take two strides and hug him. Oikawa doesn't stare up at him for forgiveness, doesn't say that he should've just stayed, doesn't ask if Tetsurou thinks he's pathetic, too, just stands there like he's waiting for himself to sink down into the floor before Tetsurou can say goodbye.

Tetsurou says, "I don't want to push you away again."

Oikawa is hesitant in lifting his head up. Tetsurou tries to figure out how to get all the feelings off his chest in the proper words. "I really," he says, and then it's best not to dance around the subject, so he adjusts to, "I'm definitely in love with you, even though we've," he coughs, "only known each other a little shy of a year. But it's not." He shakes his head. "I don't know why I didn't know before. Maybe because I didn't think I would, or because," he shoots him a weird sort of grin, because it doesn't feel real even though he means it, "you don't present yourself, really, as someone you expect other people to. To fall in love with."

Oikawa's staring openly at him. A laugh escapes Tetsurou's throat.

"It's funny," he says. "That I pushed you away when I've been. Feeling. This."

He gestures with his hands, not quite sure what he's trying to convey.

Oikawa interrupts, "How did you know?"

Tetsurou shrugs.

"You know what they say about the," he kind of points to his television, but it's more of a distraction than anything. "Love and the dramas. Things like that. I didn't—we never had room to sort out that aspect of us."

"I didn't think about it," Oikawa confesses.

Tetsurou shakes his head. "Neither did I. But—it shouldn't have been hard, shouldn't it? When we were having sex."

Oikawa says, "You weren't my first."

This doesn't bother Tetsurou, and neither does it surprise him. It's hard to tell what Oikawa thinks he's accomplishing by telling Tetsurou this, but Tetsurou's thankful for the honesty.

"I expected that," he says, and he grins and Oikawa grins and for a second it feels like they're having a conversation in a different universe.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what it means, you know how you are."

They flit and then drop and then Oikawa has his head tilted, and Tetsurou goes on.

"At the same time," he says, "as much as this—all of this—makes me want to—" It's hard to describe the swelling in his chest when he thinks of Oikawa's expression switching to laughter, when the edges outside of his world fade into a fuzzy white, when the sex can barely compete with the way Oikawa looks when Tetsurou wakes up in the morning and he's on the other side of the bed.

But Oikawa's called himself pathetic just moments ago and it bleeds into everything else. "You know what's," he says, and then, "I want you to take care of yourself. I don't just want to love you."

The space between them can go one way or another. Tetsurou hides into himself so Oikawa can absorb his words, so that he doesn't miss anything either. The morning sun shines over the skyline outside of Tetsurou's living room windows.

With Oikawa, it makes Tetsurou want to burn himself out and start over again.

Oikawa says, "You do know you've been right about me. Even with the lying, there was no." He shifts like he wants to touch Tetsurou, but doesn't. "I know why you did it, and you told me why."

Tetsurou nods.

"I like—I don't like not being around you," he says, "but I want you to be healthy—"

"And having only you around is unhealthy," Oikawa finishes.

Tetsurou unfolds his arms. Oikawa doesn't have the expression he has on when he's studying or playing volleyball, but still a part of Tetsurou feels like there's something determined behind Oikawa's eyes, like he can see the goal he always looks for, and it's not just Tetsurou.

"That you tried so hard to be my friend in the first place was better," says Oikawa. He modifies, "Best. The best thing that happened to me last year, despite our. Falling out. But people usually don't," he takes a deep breath, "I usually don't. Try to keep people around. But I did that with you, so. That's something."

"That's something," Tetsurou echoes.

Oikawa has his eyebrows furrowed like he's running past relationships, other people, through his mind. Tetsurou waits, fingers clenching into his shirt anxiously.

"I've tried," Oikawa says. He fixes it with, "I am trying. It's not the same when you've—and Iwa-chan won't let me go." He smirks. "Not like I'd let him."

Tetsurou agrees.

"Plus, I."

Oikawa glances away suddenly, and Tetsurou wants to ask if there's something wrong. But Oikawa's arms grow tighter around his chest like he's been caught doing something he's not supposed to do, and there are few things that would get Oikawa tripped up like this. A blush blooms across his cheeks.

"I guess I never really thought about it," he says, "because I just—I guess things like this blur together for me, but—I think my feelings for you are the same as your. The ones for me."

He clears his throat. "Your feelings for me."

Tetsurou raises his eyebrows. There's a coil inside his throat that's winding and unwinding, but he does his best to keep his cool.

"You  _think_?"

It's hard to say if Oikawa scowls or grins. His eyebrows are furrowed downward, but he smiles with his teeth showing. It's predatory, Tetsurou realizes.

"Asshole," Oikawa bites out.

"You should just tell me what your feelings are," Tetsurou says, and Oikawa lifts himself up from the couch, straightens up, sighs.

"Alright, listen," he says. "You fucked me when you were angry, and you fucked me in a skirt, and you fucked me with your hands around my neck, and you  _know_  how fucking hot that is to me, okay? You pulled all the shots to get me to  _take care of myself_ , and even when I yelled at you in public and made you tell me you didn't like the sex and begged you to come back, we're  _here_  months later and you tell me that you're in love with me."

He's very close to Tetsurou. The fact that he's only a couple of centimeters taller than Oikawa has Tetsurou exhaling in his face.

"What the  _hell_  do you think my feelings are?" Oikawa asks.

He expects Tetsurou's response to be a kiss, so Tetsurou does, hard and haggard with the chair digging into his back. Oikawa tastes only a little different, with maybe a bit of what might've been a twelve hour ago dinner, a lot of sweat. He didn't sleep last night. His hands wind and tug in Tetsurou's hair, and Tetsurou shifts so his half-hard erection isn't  _that_  obvious, and Oikawa grins, against his mouth.

When they break apart, panting for breath, Tetsurou asks, "What did you not sleep last night for? Don't tell me you were studying again."

Oikawa blinks, mockingly. Tetsurou could shove him to the floor.

"Are you going to tell me to take care of myself again?" he says.

Tetsurou growls and drags him to his bedroom.

▽▽▽

He's hot and writhing, and Tetsurou says, "Holy god, you're acting like I've never fingered you before."

Oikawa turns and glares behind him. "You," he says, and Tetsurou prods his finger in deeper, curls his knuckle. Oikawa yelps, and it's one of the best sounds Tetsurou's ever heard.

"You are not going  _easy on me_ ," Oikawa protests, and Tetsurou slips his finger back.

"Do you want me to go easy on you?" he asks, as he starts to lube up a second finger.

Oikawa's stubborn mouth changes into a smile, and Tetsurou slides his two wet fingers against his ass crack. Oikawa doesn't react particularly to this, like he knows what's coming.

"You know I don't," he says.

▽▽▽

The intercollegiate tournament isn't until December, and signups don't start until October, so they have a lot of time to train. Tetsurou makes plans with his coach to focus on practicing their receives, and their coach says he trusts him for being a volleyball captain before. Oikawa says his strategy is stupid and that they should work on bringing out the potential of all his teammates, and Tetsurou tells him that defense is the strongest potential, which Oikawa scoffs at.

He comes to a few practices here and there and Tetsurou introduces him to his coach for the first time. When he tells his coach who Oikawa is, the coach nearly falls over—"You'd been in the bleachers for so many practices so I just assumed you were a fan."

Oikawa says he doesn't mind being reduced to one.

Later, though, Tetsurou insists that Oikawa joins in on some of the practices, so when they have the practice matches, it's pretty evened out with six-on-six and Oikawa and Tetsurou on opposite sides of the court. Oikawa's team almost always wins, and the other members beg for him to join the team. Oikawa laughs and says he shouldn't strain himself.

"I'm a med student, it'd be embarrassing if I couldn't go into classes or work because I hurt myself," he tells them.

Tetsurou visits him on the regular at the hospital, even though Oikawa's almost always busy. But they grab lunch together and sometimes make out during Oikawa's breaks, if it's one of those long eight-hour shift days. At least when it is, they can go back to one of their apartments and unwind together. Oikawa doesn't move out until next spring break, but Tetsurou's lease expires at the end of this year. He mentions the possibility of living with Oikawa afterwards, and Oikawa demands why Tetsurou's talking like he has to ask.

Oikawa's birthday rolls around just before summer break. Instead of barging into his apartment, Tetsurou wakes up on the floor that morning. Oikawa had fallen asleep on the couch. DVD cases of dramas are lying around them. Tetsurou shakes Oikawa awake.

He takes him to brunch, and then they spend a good part of the afternoon having sex; and then still with impressive stamina, they go out for dinner in the evening. When Tetsurou brings them to the only nightclub they've been to together, Oikawa says, "I can't believe how cliché you are."

But he pays for half the drinks that night.

They drink and dance, and dance and drink, and amid the music and the jumping, instead of kissing him, Tetsurou shouts, "Happy birthday!" Oikawa grins and twists his body against Tetsurou's.

"Hey," he says, lips pressed against Tetsurou's ear. "You should come back with me for summer break."

When he pulls away, he stops his dancing.

Tetsurou does, too, asks, "You're serious?"

Oikawa nods.

Tetsurou beams and yells, "Definitely!" and Oikawa kisses him, right in the middle of everyone else. His hands wind to Tetsurou's shoulders, back, and Tetsurou grabs onto his hips, with barely any space between them.

When they decide to take a break, they go back to the bar, and Tetsurou orders them another round of drinks. Oikawa says, "I'm going to go to the bathroom," and leans in at the same time Tetsurou goes to obnoxiously blow a raspberry against his cheek. They both laugh. Oikawa leaves.

Tetsurou takes out his phone. His cheeks hurt.

_guess whos going over to miyagi this summer!!!! ;* ;* ;*_

_oh no. no you didnt._

_what do u mean me?? oikawas the one who invited me  
>:^DDDDDDD_

_im warning shouyou RIGHT AWAY_

_warning him of what?_

_that there r going to be two kuroo tetsurous to deal w this summer_

_excuse u, one of our names is oikawa tooru_

_im not sure if that makes things better_

Oikawa comes back from the restroom, and Tetsurou shows him the texts. Oikawa howls in a laugh, and says, "It definitely makes things better."

"It does," Tetsurou agrees, watches the way Oikawa brightens when the song changes, bounces against Tetsurou, peeks over to see if he's replying to the text message. Tetsurou probably should, but it can wait when he has Oikawa next to him.

He drags them back to the dance floor, holding onto Oikawa's hands, messily guiding them to the beat. When Oikawa grins and their shoulders bump, Tetsurou's heart soars like when he's playing a game of volleyball, and knows he's won.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

( _coda_ :

"Iwa-chaaaan!" Oikawa moans, rolling around on his bed. "Kuroo! Someone talk to me, I'm so bored."

Iwaizumi ignores him, so Tetsurou does too. Iwaizumi insists that the only reason Oikawa doesn't like to play video games with him is because Oikawa's always bad at them. Tetsurou can manage. At least when he loses to Iwaizumi, he says, "I'm used to it," and accepts another challenge.

Oikawa pokes his head from behind the couch. "You two are boring," he huffs.

"Because we're having fun without you."

Iwaizumi shoots a look at Tetsurou and rolls his eyes. Tetsurou grins.

Oikawa sits up again. "Hey," he says, and starts kissing the back of Tetsurou's neck. "Wanna fuck?"

"Holy, wait—"

Iwaizumi sighs as Tetsurou glances at him this time, apologetically. He swings himself over the couch and Oikawa yelps when Tetsurou pounces on him, laughs into his mouth when Tetsurou kisses him.

"You are  _not having sex on my floor_ ," Iwaizumi says, swiveling around to look over the couch. He immediately turns back. "Jesus."

"You can't stop us," teases Oikawa.

Iwaizumi sets his controller down and gets up. "I'm leaving."

"No, wait! Iwa-chan!"

Tetsurou joins him.

" _Iwa-chaaaaaan!_ ")

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Big love to both Ana and Christie for looking this over and scolding me appropriately for this fic without being Haikyuu!! at the time, haha. I maaay have abandonment issues as this is not the first time I've used this formula for a fic (whoopsie). I blame the copious amounts of alcohol in this fic with recent experiences; the Iwaizumi & Kuroo friendship was definitely not planned (but still happened); and as these things go, this fic got a lot longer than expected.
> 
> Apologies for Japanese university inaccuracies; I did my best but as I've never stepped foot inside Japan much less Tokyo I just went with what I could gather about student culture online, and made up the rest! /o\ I did go along with the school year (April-July, October-December, January-March) the best I could though!! All mistakes are my own and I sincerely apologize.


End file.
